In deep: Azorean small scale artesanal fishers' agency and participation in European Common Fisheries Policy

Supervisor/s: Alison Neilson and Mauro Serapioni

Doctoral Programme: Democracy in the Twenty-first Century

Funding: FCT

Participatory governance is an increasing norm in European Fisheries, yet policymaking strategies are driven by bio-economic models and a continuing tension exists between participatory democracy and expert authority that has remained unchanged for the last four decades. Social sciences as well as differing knowledge systems are routinely ignored by natural scientists working on fisheries policy. Meanwhile, approaches to sustainability based on the assumption that we need better science and technological solutions have not prevented overfishing. This project goes into the deep waters of fisher participation by investigating fishers' agency in the Common Fisheries Policy. This inductive study following qualitative epistemological and methodological principles of inquiry contributes to the democratization of fisheries governance by analysing: (1) the interactions between small-scale fishers (represented by civil society organizations in Advisory Councils) and the current liberal representative democratic system; (2) the relationship between participatory democracy and experts' authority (knowledge produced in scientific advisory bodies) and (3) how narratives and discourses on participatory governing principles have been enacted by policy-makers and managers in fisheries policy and research agenda, particularly with regard to environmental policy building and maritime resource management in the Azores.