Social–ecological timelines to explore human adaptation to coastal change

How should rural and indigenous communities take action to maintain their traditional livelihood adaptations and social–ecological resilience in the face of climate and biodiversity change? In the context of coastal communities, Perry et al. (2011) point to diversification, reliance on subsistence self-employment, and seeking employment in other sectors as the traditional way to cope with poor fishing seasons. In the rural coastal communities of northern Norway, flexible mixed-economy household strategies with the opportunity to combine a range of available livelihoods is a key trait of indigenous and local adaptations to ecological change (i.e. Nilsen 1998). These strategies are, however, being challenged by a changing environment and by management policies that restrict access to fisheries based on a certain level of activity which are hard for many small-scale fishermen to keep up with. Discussing the resilience of coastal communities, Broderstad and Eythórsson (2014) point to political participation, and financial and political support mechanisms as key to the successful adaptation of the coastal Sami communities to changing social–ecological conditions over the past decades. In the social–ecological history of the Porsanger fjord, the most recent change is the introduction of the king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) fishery, which is an alien invasive species (IAS) introduced to Norwegian fjords from the late 1990s. The king crab is currently managed both as an invasive and a commercial species, with an increasingly important role in the mix of livelihoods in coastal communities. Referring to the positive influence of the commercial king crab fishery on local economies in Finnmark, Broderstad and Eythórsson conclude that “odd as it may seem, an irreversible change in the ecosystem has contributed positively to the reorganization and resilience of the social–ecological system” (ibid.). The main mechanism for this positive reorganization was a policy that favored the participation of small-scale fishermen in the king crab fishery and allowed for incorporation of a king crab quota into the already existing vessel quota system that was introduced in 1990. In 2015 however, changes to the king crab management system restricted the fishery to vessels above 6 m of length out of animal health concerns, thus closing out around 50 fishermen in Eastern Finnmark from the fishery if they did not invest in larger vessels (NRK 2014). This small example illustrates some of the ongoing adaptation challenges for rural households that do not necessarily want to invest in a fisheries economy with little room for economic diversification. In the current context of climate change, focusing on long-term adaptations and actions that may serve to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to foster livelihoods that increases the resilience of social–ecological systems is a central concern. What adaptation strategies and actions could then be facilitated? Howard (2013) argues that research on human adaptation to climate and biodiversity change should focus on rural subsistence societies and “on the ways in which these population groups autochthonously adapt or mal-adapt to biodiversity change” (Howard 2013, p. 16). Moreover, one exemplary focus should be on the way rural subsistence societies and their social–ecological systems adapt to IAS, especially since there is a dearth of research on impacts of IAS on local level benefits and trade-offs (ibid.). In response to this approach, through the construction of a social–ecological timeline of change and responses to change in the Porsanger fjord community, in the following we discuss past and ongoing adaptation strategies in coastal Sami communities to identify adaptations and actions that could meet the challenges posed by changing social–ecological conditions.

This paper is the result of a failed attempt to integrate the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of Sami fjord fishermen in marine science and management of a fjord ecosystem in Finnmark, northern Norway. In northern Norway, rural and indigenous coastal communities are dependent on the marine ecosystem and its ecosystem services, where the cod fishery is the single most important to small-scale and indigenous fishermen. The Porsanger municipality consists of a population of 3981 inhabitants (SSB 2018) spread out in small settlements along the shoreline with the main bulk of the population in the central village of Lakselv. Fisheries used to be one of the main livelihoods in combination with small-scale farming and part-time occupations such as the construction industry, in public services or teaching, while it is currently the smallest (from 120 registered fishermen in 1987 to only 17 in 2017). Fjord ecosystems in Finnmark are perhaps more accurately described as part of the open Barents Sea marine ecosystem neighboring the fjord system, and thus always influenced by larger-scale fluctuations originating from outside the fjord (Jakobsen and Ozhigin 2011). The long and wide fjord is divided in two by a shelf, with warmer, Atlantic water conditions characterizing the outer parts, while low temperatures of a polar character dominate the inner part (Pedersen et al. 2018). Due to lack of data on local temperature variations, local ecosystem variability has been seen in relation to changes in ocean temperature in the North Atlantic Ocean from the 1940s onwards. Fisheries on several local coastal cod stocks were conducted along the whole length of the fjord, but the fish resources in the innermost part increasingly dwindled with declining sea temperatures and increasing fishing pressure from the end of the 1970s.

In the mid-1980s, what became known as the Coastal Sami Uprising took place in the Porsanger fjord in Finnmark, as an indigenous Sámi protest against the increasing overexploitation of local cod stocks by fishing vessels using more effective fishing technology than the locals at the time (Nilsen 2003; Eythórsson 2008). Followed by a dramatic invasion of harp seals to the Finnmark coast (Nilssen and Haug 1995), the collapse of the local cod fisheries, and other ecological changes, the Porsanger municipality government invited marine scientists to investigate what could be done to bring the fjord ecosystem “back to life” (Søderholm 2002). Importantly, marine science and fisheries authorities were at the time heavily criticized for ignoring fishermen’s traditional and local ecological knowledge, as the impact of the ecological changes on local fisheries had not been taken into account in the distribution of individual vessel quotas (IVQ) that was introduced in 1990. Up until 1995, biological data for fjord systems were not systematically gathered, which resulted in a gap between fishermen’s ecological knowledge and marine science on the fjord ecosystem. However, through various research projects, the Institute of Marine Research initiated local acoustic trawl surveys of the fjord, first in 1992 and then annually from 1995 as part of the marine research cruises. Sporadically at first, and then with a concentrated effort from 2009 to 2011, the Institute of Marine Research carried out ecosystem surveys in the Porsanger fjord system as part of the research project EPIGRAPH (see, e.g., Pedersen et al. 2018). The project gathered data on the fjord ecosystem over a number of years, and then modeled impacts of the invasive species red king crab, using Ecopath.

Almost at the same time, through the Fávllis project (UiT- The Arctic University of Norway, 2007–2013), interviews with local fjord fishermen were conducted to capture the LEK of Sámi fjord fishermen on ecological changes in the Porsanger fjord. The Fávllis project collected interviews conducted between 2001 and 2013, and carried out interviews with 27 fishermen and local residents (20 men and 7 women) about their observations of ecological and social changes in the fjord throughout their lifetimes. The interviews were transcribed and assembled in an NVivo database and categorized according to observations of changes in species, social systems, and time periods.

The Fávllis project intention was to integrate LEK with the biological data from EPIGRAPH, assuming that they could be applied in the research and management of the Porsanger fjord ecosystem. The two projects conducted meetings in Porsanger and had discussions about the state of the ecosystem during the project periods. Integration of results from marine science and LEK research, however, turned out to be challenging (Eythórsson and Brattland 2012). Different disciplinary approaches, as well as incompatibility between the long time series of LEK and the shorter time series provided by scientific trawl surveys and samples, as well as challenges with comparable spatial scales for complementary sources like catch statistics, were harder to overcome than first assumed. The challenging experiences from trying to integrate science and LEK raised the question of whether it was at all possible to integrate what were from the outset data from different knowledge systems, produced and performed in what seemed like “different worlds” (ibid., p. 148). Rather than attempting to integrate different forms of knowledge, Eythórsson and Brattland (2012) concluded that what was needed was cross-disciplinary collaboration in partnership with local knowledge producers, such as the Coastal Sami Resource Centre (ibid.). Such co-production approaches are currently supported by the increasing focus on the value of including multiple knowledge systems in biodiversity research (e.g., the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Díaz et al. 2015). Rather than attempting to integrate and validate the knowledge systems, the approach recognises that knowledge systems are not necessarily compatible, but that they can still contribute to an enriched evidence base for environmental management (Tengö et al. 2014, 2017). In the field of human adaptation to biodiversity change research, Howard (2013) points to the lack of methods and tools for understanding, documenting and researching human adaptation to biodiversity change. Based on these approaches, this paper is partly a result of continued conversations with marine scientist Knut Sunnanå (formerly the Institute of Marine Research, with a special responsibility for the Porsanger fjord) on the LEK material gathered through the Fávllis project, and the connections between fishermen’s observations and larger-scale ecosystem processes such as ocean temperature and species interactions. Flowing from the conversation between the Fávllis LEK material and Sunnanå’s analysis of the interactions between fishermen’s experiences and fjord ecosystem processes, we produced a social–ecological timeline which could be part of such an enriched evidence base, as well as provide a method for understanding, documenting and researching human adaptation to biodiversity change.

The basis for the socio-ecological timeline (SET) of the Porsanger fjord is a compilation of characteristic traits for historical periods and “time-constituting events” (or “thresholds of potential concern”), developed according to the fishermen’s perceptions of biodiversity changes in the fjord. Based on previous studies and the Fávllis LEK database, in this paper we use the approach of participant-defined timelines, in order to construct a social–ecological timeline for the Porsanger fjord, with identified major events and tipping points. As opposed to other events, a tipping point is an event that has the effect of completely changing the social–ecological system to the extent that it never returns to the same state that it had prior to the event. Generally, social–ecological history (cf. Ommer 2007) is a history of a social–ecological system (i.e. Berkes et al. 2003), incorporating several different sources, including local knowledge. Identification of temporal scales for social–ecological change, which is the main approach for this study, is generally used as part of participatory rural appraisal methods. Adaptation is generally thought of as actions taken to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience in the face of biodiversity and climate change, which can be taken on multiple scales and in the short and long term (ibid.). Tipping points signal a discontinuity in the history of the system, and to which short- and long-term actions were taken in response to change, such as technological advances or migration (Perry et al. 2011). Andrachuk and Armitage (2015), in a study of the social–ecological transformation of a lagoon fishery in Vietnam from 1985 to the present, identified phases of social–ecological change through participant-defined timelines, focusing on SES elements, interactions, and sources of continuity and novelty. Placing emphasis on socially defined thresholds and “thresholds of potential concern”, they underline that it is a matter of interpretation to empirically know when a tipping point has occurred (ibid.). Similarly, we have analyzed sources of continuity and novelty in the LEK interviews to construct a social–ecological timeline of the Porsanger fjord to identify the importance and effects of changes and response to change over time.

The social–ecological history constructed in this paper is based on major events or that have been addressed in previous literature (Broderstad and Eythórsson 2014) as having dramatic effects on Sami subsistence and livelihood combinations, as well as their responses. The most notable changes are, for instance, overfishing of herring and coastal/fjord cod (Gadus morhua), in-migration of harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) from the Arctic Ocean from the middle of the 1980s, the introduction of the IVQ system in 1990 that have been singled out by many as an injustice towards Sami small-scale fishermen that marked the end of the traditional Sami fishing livelihood combination (Nilsen 1998; Davis and Jentoft 2001), and the introduction of the red king crab fishery from the early 2000s. These changes are important parts of the social–ecological history as historical or time-constitutive events, and may also be part of or lead up to a tipping point in the social–ecological system. For the purposes of this paper, we see a tipping point as an event that has the effect of changing the social–ecological system to the extent that it never returns to the same state that it had prior to the event.

Broderstad and Eythórsson (2014) identified several events building up to a tipping point in the 1990s for fjord ecosystems in western Finnmark, and point to short- and long-term adaptations among fishermen and communities at the local, regional and national scales. Discussing the resilience and adaptive capacity of the social–ecological system in Porsanger, they argue that the combined effects of the disappearance of coastal cod from spawning sites, depletion of kelp forests and the introduction of red king crab, may be characterized as a state change in the ecological system. For the Porsanger fjord, they identified local adaptation strategies during difficult years as: (1) “riding out the storm”, (2) finding alternative occupations, and (3) needing to buy a larger boat in order to fish outside the fjord (ibid.). They also argue that, in the case of Porsanger, adaptive capacity cannot be entirely explained as a trait of the SES itself, but that available adaptive strategies have been dependent upon external (ecological and social) factors on a larger scale, such as the introduction of quotas and other fisheries management measures and financial support for fishing vessels from external sources (Sami Parliament, government) in difficult times. Out of these actions, one might gather that the “riding out the storm” strategy represents the lowest strain on resources while still maintaining fisheries as part of local livelihood combinations. This option has, however, proved to be difficult in Porsanger.

Brattland (2014). in a study of the transition of Porsanger fishermen to an increasingly efficient or “cybernetic” fisheries organization, points at several adaptations in terms of technological change in the fisheries. Fishermen continually adapt to new governance systems and technological systems by incorporating new knowledge, technology and routines into their practices, especially when transitioning to new modes of fisheries organisation (Johnsen et al. 2009). Focusing on the technological development of the local fishing vessels, Brattland (2014) found that fishermen’s adaptations were characterized by ecological intensification on the local fishing grounds in the Porsanger fjord prior to 1989, and an increased spatial range for remaining fishing vessels in the period after the introduction of the vessel quota system. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the number of registered open vessels (typically wooden motorized vessels between 6 to 8 meters of length) increased dramatically between 1950 and 1966 from 4 to 114 vessels, while the number of decked vessels (typically larger vessels with echo-sounders and other fish-finding technology) were reduced. The sharp increase in open vessels from 1950 onwards follows the same development as in the rest of the county, and consisted of new open vessels with outboard engines. In contrast to the rest of Finnmark, however, Porsanger did not experience a decrease in the number of open vessels until the 1988 registry, when it was dramatically reduced by 50% (Fig. 1). The reduction is partly explained by new methods for registering vessels, meaning that many vessels which were not actively participating in the fisheries had been removed, but the main reason is most probably the impact of the seal invasion. During the seal years 1987 and 1988, the number of seals caught in fishing nets on the Finnmark coast increased from 4500 in 1986 to 56 000 in 1987 and 22 000 in 1988. After 1995, the level of seals were back at the level prior to 1986 (between 500 and 2000 each year) (Norwegian Directorate for Fisheries 2004).

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For Porsanger, the introduction of the IVQ system in 1990 had a rather minor impact on the number of vessels compared to the drop in 1988, but it made the adaptation strategy of re-entry into the fisheries after the seal invasion was over more difficult. A very low number of fishermen (only 22 out of 79 fishermen) in Porsanger were able to achieve a vessel quota based on the required amount of catch during the years 1987–1989. According to statistics from the Fisheries Directorate, the number of fishermen in Porsanger was reduced by 75% in a matter of years to only around 20, the most dramatic development of all the fjord municipalities in Finnmark (Maurstad 2008). What impact did these changes have on the Porsanger fjord as a social–ecological system?

Throughout the careers and life histories of the men and women who have lived in and subsisted from the marine resources in the Porsanger fjord, environmental change is a central theme. Fishermen are concerned with changes in locations and abundance of cod, saithe, flounder (primarily Pleuronectes platessa) and halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), but also with the marine habitat and biodiversity such as spawning grounds, kelp beds and sea-bottom conditions, and climatic aspects like wind, currents and ice conditions. Observations of increasing abundance of sea-urchins and decreasing kelp beds which fish fry use to find shelter are also noted as unusual changes by fishermen, especially in the innermost part of the fjord, over several decades. The seal invasion in 1986, however, represents the beginning of the end of a golden period of cod abundance and high participation in the local fishery when re-entry into the fishery was still an available option for many. At that time, both social and ecological events represent abrupt changes in the fjord ecosystem or in society, with great impact upon fishermen’s livelihoods and their ability to adapt. Based on an analysis of both previous studies and the participants’ emphasis on the importance of these changes relative to each other, we have identified two main phases separated by the harp seal invasion, the simultaneous crash in local fisheries, and the introduction of the vessel quota system as a socio-ecological tipping point (1986–1990) from which the fjord never recovered. In the following phase, the king crab invasion started out as a nuisance or “dis-service” (from 2002 onwards) but then developed into one of the most important sources of income for fishermen from approximately 2007 onwards. As indicated in the “Introduction”, there are, however, also challenges with the king crab fishery, which could be compared to the situation preceding the 1990 introduction of the vessel quota system.

Our analytical focus in the following section is on the adaptation actions taken by Porsanger fishermen to cope with and adapt to socio-ecological changes before and after the tipping point, and we also discuss the role of changing ocean temperatures and fishing pressure in the North Atlantic Ocean for fishermen’s adaptations. The goal for the discussion is to arrive at some insights into what actions the Porsanger fjord society can take to mitigate the impacts of climate and biodiversity change in the future, based on experiences with previous change.

As the SET that we have constructed for this paper shows, the SES before and after the tipping point (1986–1990) can be characterized as almost two completely different systems, also in terms of adaptation options. During the first phase, local and short-term adaptations to dwindling resources included changing mesh sizes in fishing gear, adhering to local norms and values not to overfish both within local fishermen’s groups, as well as political organization against overfishing by encroaching vessel groups (the Coastal Sami Uprising). Entering fisheries and establishing receiving stations to connect fishermen with the market was supported by government incentives, and it was relatively easy to re-enter fisheries at a later time if the season was bad. Locals also referred to previous adaptation practices such as hunting for predators (otters and seals) to balance out pressures on important (cod) and vulnerable species (i.e. the sea-urchin–kelp connection). Active fishermen in Porsanger today may refer to the herring collapse in the 1960s as an important historical event which was massive, but it did not change the entire social–ecological system of the fjord. There was thus little need to look for other occupations at that time, when other fisheries were still available within the Porsanger SES.

Some fishermen warned of the consequences if fishing continued at the same rate that they saw happening in the mid-1980s, and the rapid expansion of the fishery led to protests from the Sami fishermen. There were informal mechanisms in place to avoid overfishing such as norms against catching “mother fish” and, as expressed by one of the fishermen, a value to not fish more than he had need for. These norms, or institutions (sensu Ostrom 2015), can indeed be interpreted as a key aspect of the autochthonous adaptation of a rural society to the threat of unsustainable resource use (see for instance Nilsen 1998). In the interviews conducted by the Fávllis project, fishermen do express worries about the impact of active gear types, but they also readily admit that they themselves had a part in depleting the local cod stocks by taking the spawning codfish and changing the mesh sized in their gillnets. In our opinion, this illustrates that rural societies, or any society, are comprised of a diversity of complex actions of adaptation and mal-adaptation. In most cases these adaptations are the products of very particular interactions between social, technological and ecological factors which are difficult to conflate and represent under the label of a single adaptation strategy independent of a longer historical timeline. Adaptations at the local scale will, however, become easier to see once they are investigated in their historical, social and ecological context, as we have done in the form of a SET.

Fishermen’s own explanations emphasize the role of gear conflicts and overfishing of stocks as the cause of resource decline and environmental degradation. One of the limitations of the LEK is that it is limited to the experience range of fishermen, thus missing the role of larger-scale both social and ecological processes and their impacts. To understand larger-scale processes impacting local adaptations, we need to take into account larger-scale social–ecological and environmental processes.

What adaptation strategies should be facilitated in order to maintain the resilience of coastal social–ecological systems? Based on the discussion above, it seems clear that adaptation options for coastal Sami fishermen vary with the state of the ecosystem and with the constraints and possibilities offered by management systems. What the Porsanger SET illustrates is that there was never a time when ecological conditions were stable, as ecological fluctuations seem to be inherent to the fjord ecosystem, as they are in many Arctic ecosystems. In terms of adaptations, the option of entering and re-entering the fishery as part of a flexible rural livelihood approach, however, seems to be constrained by the introduction of the vessel quota system in 1990. Even though opportunities to incorporate king crab fishery as part of traditional adaptations improved between 2004 and 2014, new rules seemed to create difficulties for the smallest group of fishermen, who are most likely to be combining fishing with other livelihoods. This may decrease the capacity to cope with further changes such as increased ocean temperatures and thus even more unpredictable ecological conditions in the future. In the current context of climate change, it seems important to facilitate long-term, sustainable adaptations and to initiate actions to mitigate climate change. What may such actions look like?

Based on the ability of fishermen to cope with change through diversification of economies in the past, an option could be to facilitate (re-)entry into fisheries as part of flexible livelihood combinations. This could potentially foster environmentally sustainable fishing practices in a future diverse and green economy. Increased exploitation of adjacent resources by fishing vessels that are not dependent on oil or diesel could also represent a viable strategy to cut climate gas emissions while still maintaining sustainable livelihoods among the rural population. The current management system, however, favors effective vessels and fishermen with large capture capacity and spatial mobility. This may, however, also change, for instance in a future where market conditions no longer facilitate fossile fuel-driven fisheries. What will happen in such an event has already been suggested by how decommissioning of superfluous vessels to deal with over capacity puts new and efficient vessels out of business (Brattland 2014). With the increasing urgency of transitioning into a new and green economy driven by climate change, investing in electrified vessels could be a relevant adaptation option for municipalities like Porsanger.

The interactions between ocean temperature and its different implications for oceanic and fjord ecosystems are complex and difficult to predict. The way these changes have been experienced are, however, more accessible through the memories and traditional ecological knowledge of fishermen. In their experience, the disappearance of kelp beds was something they were not used to, in an ecosystem where fluctuating fish stocks and invading species were part of their daily lives. As indicated by a report by the Nordic Council of Ministers (2017), the supporting ecosystem services of kelp forests is important for ecosystem health, as macroalgae are important for storing and capturing of carbon in the oceans. The local marine research station in Porsanger has for years experimented with regrowth of macroalgae in the fjord (Sunnset 2010). From a climate mitigation perspective, restoration and culturation of kelp beds is thus an action that could be planned into the coastal zone plans for the Porsanger fjord.

In terms of research on human adaptation to climate and biodiversity change, the way we have constructed the work around the social–ecological timeline for Porsanger brings attention to the relationship between local observers and science. When science has few conclusive answers for the causes of environmental change, traditional and local ecological knowledge on what a healthy ecosystem should look like could thus provide guidance on what adaptive actions could be taken. The experiences and responses of locals to not only changes in abundance of certain species but also to biodiversity change in general is a good starting point for analyzing changes in ecosystem functions. Monitoring of local biodiversity changes such as those occurring in remote rural societies is, however, still not a focus of research, nor are there any programs to initiate monitoring of biodiversity change in these societies. Regarding the involvement of local fishermen in future monitoring and research on the Porsanger fjord, it is notable that no fishermen input was used in the EPIGRAPH project, which modeled the ecosystem using Ecopath. In a study using EwE, Bevilacqua et al. (2016) argues the potential of FEK to fill in knowledge gaps of in ecosystem modelling using Ecopath, especially in data-poor situations. This is where partnerships with local knowledge producers in Porsanger could constitute a difference for monitoring of the state of the changing ecosystem using traditional and local ecological knowledge of the past ecosystem as a reference point.

This should not only involve local knowledge holders (Davis and Ruddle 2010; Stephenson et al. 2016), but ideally be conducted in collaboration with science, to foster both adaptive capacity and self-governance, not only in research centers but also in rural communities (Colin-Castillo and Woodward 2015). Such a monitoring system would need to define a set of indicators for biodiversity change, which could be participant-defined based on the construction of SETs. If ecological indicators were co-produced and made explicit by fishermen and biologists, monitoring could then be a task for the fishermen as part of a citizen science or community-based monitoring programme (Tengö et al. 2014). In addition, local participation in the gathering of and reflection upon this information can also contribute to greater awareness of climate and biodiversity change in local historical processes, and generate source material for environmental history (Weines 2016). Keiner (2013) and Taylor (2013) reflect on the future lack of source material about ecological changes and methodological challenges in extracting LEK from old sources. They conclude that a focus on preservation of LEK in the present can be an appropriate response. Local observers could participate through citizen science contributions to environmental monitoring using smart devices. Whereas local observations can be instantly interpreted and communicated to others, scientists first need to gather data, analyze them, have them reviewed, and only then communicate findings. The traditional way of producing and processing scientific knowledge is often too slow for the quick and fluid flow of current environmental web monitoring systems. In the Porsanger fjord, a local indigenous organisation has already built an online database where local narratives and observations on biodiversity change are increasingly posted and discussed (Andersen and Persen 2011; CSRC 2017). Building on LEK, as we have done in this paper, incorporating marine science results, and then co-producing knowledge of large-scale biodiversity change to build time-series for the future, could provide a database of explanations for and indicators of biodiversity change. Last but not least, our work documents the adaptation actions taken by locals, government and science when faced with biodiversity change. This article is in itself an action in response to change, as it would not have been written had not the Porsanger municipal local government sought to bring their fjord “back to life” by reaching out to researchers in an attempt to understand and mitigate the effects of climate and biodiversity change.