A Great Past, but What Future? – A Social-Ecological Analysis of Swedish Coastal Small-Scale Fishery on Eel

The small-scale fishery for eel on the Swedish east coast stands on the brink of extinction. In this presentation, I focus on the social-ecological perspective: how did the current situation arise and what keeps it going. During the 1960s, fishers invested in new fishing gear, expecting a return on investments within years. But in the same period, eel abundance started to decline, frustrating their expectations. The conjunction of increased investments with lower returns led to bankruptcy among the fishers. The present situation, in which the remaining fishers are trapped, is a result of the development in the 1960s. Sustainable management of the eel stock and fishery can only be achieved, if long-term interactions between eel dynamics and fishers socio-economic position are taken into consideration.