Abstract: The sustainability of aquatic food systems depends on cooperation from diverse stakeholders such as fishers through their daily decisions at sea. In this talk, I examine fisheries governance through the lens of collective action dynamics, focusing on the policies and social tipping points that spark cooperation and the feedback loops that sustain (or undermine) it through time. Drawing on comparative, mixed-methods research across small-scale fisheries in Mexico and French Polynesia, I discuss the emergence of compliance and collective stewardship under conditions of uncertainty and change. In these places, governance tools such as temporary fisheries closures have functioned not as static interventions, but as dynamic social-ecological experiments in which design, behavior, and visibility of benefits has generated reinforcing feedbacks – and, in some cases, mistrust and failure. I hope to leave you with a message of hope: humans are hardwired for cooperation and adaptation, and policies are avenues to rewrite the rules of the game.
You can find more information about Dr Quintana's research here: https://stri.si.edu/scientist/anastasia-quintana