"Context matters: Governance fit, vulnerability, and adaptation in small-scale fisheries" by: Mateja Nenadovic

Wednesday, November 18, 2026 at 3:00pm to 4:00pm

SMAST East 101-103 : 836 S. Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford MA 02744
Callie Rumbut
c.rumbut@umassd.edu
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260

Seminar Announcement

Department of Fisheries Oceanography

"Context matters: Governance fit, vulnerability, and adaptation in small-scale fisheries"
Dr. Mateja Nenadovic
Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island

Wednesday, November 18, 2026
3:00 - 4:00 pm
SMAST E 101-103 and via Zoom

Abstract:

Small-scale fisheries are embedded in complex social-ecological systems in which environmental conditions, markets, access rights, and fishing organizations interact to shape both ecological and human outcomes. Yet fisheries policy frequently searches for broadly applicable solutions without sufficiently considering the conditions under which different governance arrangements are likely to succeed. This presentation draws on more than a decade of research on small-scale fisheries governance, with particular emphasis on an interdisciplinary research program in northwest Mexico that examined a central question: What types of governance arrangements, and under what social-ecological conditions, are most likely to produce sustainable and resilient outcomes? Using longitudinal fisheries landings, environmental data, surveys, and interviews, this research demonstrates that there is no single governance arrangement consistently associated with better outcomes. Rather, institutional performance depends on the fit between governance arrangements and the social and ecological context in which they operate. These findings shift attention away from identifying universally “best” governance institutions and toward understanding the contextual conditions that make particular arrangements effective. I argue that a more diagnostic and context-sensitive approach to fisheries governance, one that explicitly considers institutional fit, access, agency, adaptive capacity, and changing social-ecological conditions, can improve both the effectiveness and equity of fisheries management in an increasingly variable world.

Join Meeting

https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260

Note: Meeting ID and passcode required, email contact to obtain.

For additional information, please contact Callie Rumbut at c.rumbut@umassd.edu