Heterogeneous management and conservation perceptions within the gooseneck barnacle co-management system in Asturias (N. Spain)

- A fishery's sustainability is dependent upon its fishers' perceptions.
- Heterogeneous users with varying perceptions comprise fisheries.
- Fishers' perceptions varied markedly in accordance to six socioeconomic variables.
- A trade-off between management and conservation goals was observed.
- Heterogeneity in fishers' perceptions must be accounted for in management policies.

Stakeholders' perceptions can influence the success of a fishery. It is important to take these perceptions into account when evaluating the development of a management system and its conservation policies. Structured questionnaires were used to determine fishers' management and conservation perceptions of the Asturian gooseneck barnacle co-management system. Perceptions were analyzed for the entire fishery and for different socioeconomic factors, these were: location, age, years in the management system, way of access, alternative income sources and income. Fishers' perceptions varied widely among socioeconomic factors. In fact, a trade-off between management and conservation perceptions was observed for the different categories within each socioeconomic factor, particularly for the years in the management system, location and income factors. Despite the heterogeneity in perceptions, the co-management system has successfully generated a strong conservation ethic in its resource users. Furthermore, as a group, gooseneck barnacle fishers hold positive perceptions on the performance of the management system. When generating management policies, fisheries' managers must take the heterogeneity of resource users present in the fishery into account. The gooseneck barnacle co-management system demonstrates that even within the same fishery there can be multiple paths to sustainability.