Can incentive-based change in fisheries contribute to adaptive co-management? The case of the Scottish Conservation Credits Scheme

Through the case of the Scottish Conservation Credit Scheme (SCCS), this paper explores the extent to which the adoption of incentive-based arrangements can lead to the adaptive co-management of marine fisheries. Adaptive co-management has emerged as an integrative approach to dealing with the complex interplay between ecosystems dynamics and multi-level governance arrangements. While much attention in the adaptive co-management literature has been given to processes of social learning and self-organisation, as well as modes of collaboration and adaptation, less analysis has been given to the role and design of incentives. Both monetary and non-monetary incentives are an inherent component of natural resource management. Voluntary incentive-based fisheries management has emerged as an alternative to more centralised regulatory approaches that aim for specific goals, such as reducing discards, avoiding catch at vulnerable life-stages or in specific habitats, or reducing by-catch of threatened and endangered species, by changing fishing practices, within broader aims of rebuilding overexploited stocks. The SCCS is an example of one form of incentive-based arrangement we termed a ‘behavioural credit scheme’; characterised by the adoption of flexible measures to intentionally change gear efficiency and effort allocation to meet Scotland’s obligations under the European cod recover plan. The results indicate that while the SCCS was initially able to implement effective incentives agreed upon by a wide group of fishery stakeholders, the ultimate utility of incentive-based management was limited by the status of the stock and rigid time frames set by the EU, which together affected the economic viability of the fleets involved. This has in turn undermined the extent to which the SCCS has been able to implement flexible, voluntary incentive-based recovery of cod stocks and questions the extent to which incentive-based arrangements can contribute to adaptive co-management.