Abstract

Fisheries in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are managed through a combination of measures which include marine protected areas, seasonal closures, size limits, restrictions on species and gears, quotas, bag limits, and licensing. While this approach has had varying degrees of success in the past, it is unclear whether fisheries management in the TCI is able to address: (1) the growing impact of climate change on fisheries (from rising sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, sargassum blooms, and more frequent storms and hurricanes); and (2) unpredictable socio-economic disturbances (such as the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic downturns, and cost of living crises, which are all likely to have led residents to rely more on fisheries for livelihoods and subsistence). We assessed the resilience of TCI fisheries and their management framework in the face of climate-related impacts and socio-economic uncertainty. We concluded that the relatively unrestricted access to both commercial and subsistence fisheries provides an important livelihood safety net. However, total fishing effort is hard to control, and therefore the sustainability of the fisheries can be jeopardized. Nonetheless, the government can respond rapidly to declines in stocks or other threats to fisheries (e.g. through closing seasons early, banning fishing in certain areas, or implementing further restrictions to gears). However, for the most part, policies to determine when such measures should be triggered, as well as the data to inform them, are currently lacking. Ideally, these policies and the monitoring programs they require should be co-developed with fishers and other stakeholders.