Spatial, temporal and capacity regulation of fishing effort are some of the main options applied in order to reach environmental and socio-economic sustainability of marine fisheries from recreational to commercial. However, these tools are generally combined stepwise and their effect should be evaluated in the medium or long term, which makes it difficult to disentangle the role of different drivers, including changes in the environmental conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a global, unplanned and unregulated experiment, and a global shock, that affected also the fisheries sector with social, economic and ecological consequences to be assessed. How COVID-19 impacted the activity of the fleets and, indirectly, the status of resources at sea, and how it reverberated on the fishing behavior are emerging questions for fisheries scientists, national governments and the fisheries sector. In the meantime, the lowering of fishing effort due to the pandemic and its effects can be used as a source of information on the potential effects of short-time management actions.
The dynamics of fisheries and resources as occurring in this exceptional situation represent a potential source of knowledge on fishermen's behavior, short term effects of fisheries ban and institutional adaptation for the set-up of more effective management strategies but also for a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between fishing effort and resource status.
Moreover, the analysis of how fleets adapt their strategies and what are the consequences of this shock on fishing performances are of great importance to foresee. The objective of this Research Topic is to collect a series of works analyzing and quantifying the effects of the COVID-19 on:
· Fisheries movement and effort
· Fishermen behavior
· Short terms effects on resources
· Adaptive strategies of the fishing industry and governments
· Partial recovery for marine ecosystems
· Progresses in the adaptive capacity of the sectors (e.g. more cooperation between the actors of the fishing industry)
· Interactions between COVID-19 effects and other drivers like climate change or marine biodiversity loss
The Research Topic is dedicated to the effects of COVID-19 on the fisheries sector as a whole. A non-exhaustive list of possible topics is:
· Who: what are the fleet segments and fishermen that were affected by the COVID-19;
· Where: areas more affected by COVID-19 at all scales, from local to regional to worldwide analyses;
· How much: quantification of the fisheries closure related to covid-19 using different methods;
· How: Effects of pandemic on fishermen behaviour, landings, costs and revenues;
· What is the reaction: institutional adaptation and responses (subsidies, new plans for the fishermen)
We encourage the submission of Original Research, Perspective, and Brief Research Report.
Spatial, temporal and capacity regulation of fishing effort are some of the main options applied in order to reach environmental and socio-economic sustainability of marine fisheries from recreational to commercial. However, these tools are generally combined stepwise and their effect should be evaluated in the medium or long term, which makes it difficult to disentangle the role of different drivers, including changes in the environmental conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a global, unplanned and unregulated experiment, and a global shock, that affected also the fisheries sector with social, economic and ecological consequences to be assessed. How COVID-19 impacted the activity of the fleets and, indirectly, the status of resources at sea, and how it reverberated on the fishing behavior are emerging questions for fisheries scientists, national governments and the fisheries sector. In the meantime, the lowering of fishing effort due to the pandemic and its effects can be used as a source of information on the potential effects of short-time management actions.
The dynamics of fisheries and resources as occurring in this exceptional situation represent a potential source of knowledge on fishermen's behavior, short term effects of fisheries ban and institutional adaptation for the set-up of more effective management strategies but also for a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between fishing effort and resource status.
Moreover, the analysis of how fleets adapt their strategies and what are the consequences of this shock on fishing performances are of great importance to foresee. The objective of this Research Topic is to collect a series of works analyzing and quantifying the effects of the COVID-19 on:
· Fisheries movement and effort
· Fishermen behavior
· Short terms effects on resources
· Adaptive strategies of the fishing industry and governments
· Partial recovery for marine ecosystems
· Progresses in the adaptive capacity of the sectors (e.g. more cooperation between the actors of the fishing industry)
· Interactions between COVID-19 effects and other drivers like climate change or marine biodiversity loss
The Research Topic is dedicated to the effects of COVID-19 on the fisheries sector as a whole. A non-exhaustive list of possible topics is:
· Who: what are the fleet segments and fishermen that were affected by the COVID-19;
· Where: areas more affected by COVID-19 at all scales, from local to regional to worldwide analyses;
· How much: quantification of the fisheries closure related to covid-19 using different methods;
· How: Effects of pandemic on fishermen behaviour, landings, costs and revenues;
· What is the reaction: institutional adaptation and responses (subsidies, new plans for the fishermen)
We encourage the submission of Original Research, Perspective, and Brief Research Report.
