Challenges for fishers’ engagement in Marine Protected Areas: Lessons from Right Whale Environmental Protection Area, Southern Brazil

Promoting fishers’ engagement in the management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) is crucial to enable governance strategies. In this article, the process of engaging small-scale fishers was analyzed in two initiatives carried out in Right Whale Environmental Protection Area (RWEPA), Santa Catarina state, Brazil: (i) the formulation of the Management Plan; and (ii) the execution of a community integration project for small-scale fishers. The expectation for the initiatives was to obtain diversified and wide participation of small-scale fishers in order to reduce social participation asymmetries in the management of the MPA, and to strengthen relations with organizations and leaders and small-scale fishing communities in RWEPA. The mobilization of small-scale fishers in both initiatives was carried out continuously around the fishing huts and with fisherfolk organizations, seeking to respect the existing organizational structures and leaderships of RWEPA. Data from fisher participation were collected through documentary analysis, open and semi-structured interviews, and participant observation carried out between October 2016 and June 2019. Fishers' engagement was analyzed based on the following categories proposed by Reed and collaborators 2018: context, power, design and, scalar fit. Through those categories it was possible to verify that, although methodological issues have affected the engagement of small-scale fishers in the initiatives, their historical and cultural context were highly relevant, as well as power relations among stakeholders. It is essential that initiatives associated with profound changes in the way stakeholders think and act are analyzed as an integral part of a long-term process. In this context, both initiatives represented an important step to increase the participation of small-scale fishers in RWEPA management. The results can be used to guide the engagement of fisher communities in MPA initiatives. •The engagement of small-scale fishers in MPAs requires long-term initiatives.•Contextual factors and power relations best explain fishers’ engagement.•Initiatives with State-led agency can be considered legitimate by fishers.•Female representation is lower in fishery participatory processes.