A review of small-scale marine fisheries in the United States: Definitions, scale, drivers of change, and policy gaps

Small-scale fisheries make important socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental contributions to society, yet are often poorly characterized. In the United States, there is not a formal definition of the term "small-scale" in fisheries, making it difficult to monitor the status of the sector, discern drivers of change, or design and implement targeted policies that ensure its long-term viability. In this paper, we aim to bring attention to the sector by: (1) developing a set of preliminary definitions of small-scale fisheries; (2) describing the diversity, catch composition, and economic value of landings harvested by the sector; and (3) summarizing key drivers of change. We identify 1019 small-scale fishing "units" in the United States, which can be understood as semi -discrete fisheries based on five characteristics. Those who participate in these fisheries collectively harvest 350 commercially reported taxa. We estimate that these fisheries represented between 1 % and 25 % of the total commercial landings in the United States by weight and as much as 68 % of total value. Climate change and loss of social capital are viewed as key threats to small-scale fisheries, as is the decline of working waterfront infrastructure, nearshore habitat loss and degradation, and the privatization of access privileges. We identify a range of impediments to studying the sector in the United States and offer recommendations for improving data collection, monitoring, evaluation long-term. To support small-scale fisheries through improved decision -making, systematic changes to the ways in which data are collected and archived are critically needed.