Nathalie A Steins

Wageningen University & Research | WUR · Wageningen Marine Research

Collective action processes in complex, multiple-use common-pool resources (CPRs) have only recently become a focus of study. When CPRs evolve into more complex systems, resource use by separate user groups becomes increasingly interdependent. This implies, amongst others, that the institutional framework governing resource use has to be re-negotia...

The increasingly complex nature of marine resource management calls for stronger stakeholder participation in advancing knowledge and developing management approaches. Studies on stakeholder involvement in marine resource management have primarily focussed on participation in resource use negotiation and not on participation in science. Using fishe...

Large-scale development of offshore wind farms implies an increase in marine resource use conflicts. Managing potential impacts on marine ecosystems and on resource access for traditional and prospective users is key. Multi-use scenarios are a solution but are often approached as a 'design question' that can be settled through Marine Spatial Planni...

Improving the selectivity of fishing gear and practices has been a challenge for fishers, scientists, and policy-makers for decades. In Europe, urgency increased with the introduction of the landing obligation. Voluntary uptake of proven selective gears has been poor across the globe. To increase uptake levels, a move from science-led to industry-l...

For future sustainable management of fisheries, we anticipate deeper and more diverse information will be needed. Future needs include not only biological data, but also information that can only come from fishers, such as real-time ‘early warning’ indicators of changes at sea, socio-economic data and fishing strategies. The fishing industry, in ou...

A solid knowledgebase and governance process is required to develop policies for sustainable growth of offshore aquaculture in the North Sea.Environmental goals largely define maximum sustainable production levels. For seaweed culture this is limited to the scale of several hundred km2.Definition of realistic ambitions is a process rather than a fi...

The welfare of the animals that we produce for our food consumption is increasingly becoming a socially relevant topic. In bivalves, however, assessing their welfare in aquaculture is not common practice. There is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the question on whether bivalves are sentient beings and whether welfare is a relevant topic in the...

We reflect on the innovation process that led to the development of the pulse trawl that was successfully trialed at a commercial scale, but eventually ended with the European Parliament passing legislation to ban its use. The ban was imposed despite published and emerging evidence that suggested that the environmental performance and catch efficie...

Regionalisation was established to enable a bottom-up approach to fisheries governance by allowing lower-level authorities and stakeholders to step into the fisheries management process and design tailor-made management on a regional scale. A review has been undertaken to provide improved understanding on how regionalisation has worked until now an...

This report (in Dutch, with English summary) describes an action perspective for policy for the long term, based on the major spatial challenges from the map of the Netherlands 2120, aimed at food production on land and at sea. To move towards NL2120 more quickly, among other things, more central government is needed, the gap between policy visions...

De Waddenzee, Oosterschelde en Voordelta zijn beschermde natuurgebieden. De mosselvisserij- en kweek worden daarom gereguleerd. In het Mosselconvenant hebben sector, natuurorganisaties en overheid afspraken gemaakt over onder andere de stapsgewijze afbouw van mosselzaadvisserij op de bodem naar osselzaadinvanginstallaties in de waterkolom. Doel is...

The shifting policy focus towards Ecosystem Based Management in Fisheries (EBFM) requires the integration of knowledge and disciplines and the engagement of stakeholders to support decision-making processes. Scientists contribute to this through (i) participatory research projects, (ii) stakeholder partnerships and (iii) institutional scientific ad...

For a long time, fishery-independent surveys were only carried out by scientists. On-going criticism by Dutch fishers on the North Sea beam trawl survey prompted scientists to invite fishers on board. Since 2007, fishers have annually joined the survey as observers. Observing all steps in the survey like rigging the gear, the selection of fishing l...

The full catch monitoring in the Dutch Norway lobster fishery was part of a science-industry research collaboration project (Onderzoekssamenwerking 2.0) and aimed to improve data for the stock assessments of Norway lobster stocks. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has divided the discrete patches of mud Norway lobster...

Initiatieven van burgers en maatschappelijke organisaties kunnen bijdragen aan struc-turele maatschappelijke veranderingen. Dit geldt ook voor een transitie naar een duurzame en natuurinclusieve samenleving. Het gebruik van een Theory of Change biedt aanknopingspunten om hun strategie aan te scherpen. Dit kan de impact van initiatieven van groene b...

The flatfish species turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) and brill (Scophthalmus rhombus) in the North Sea are important commercial bycatches for the Dutch commercial fleet. Based on so-called stock assessments, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advises the European Commission on fishing opportunities. Brill is currently a d...

The Dutch government aims to expand renewable energy production and areas for nature conservation in the North Sea. These developments are part of its commitment to the Paris Agreement, implemented in Dutch legislation through the Climate Law (‘Klimaatwet’, 2019), and the Dutch North Sea Agreement (NZA) involving the main economic users affected by...

Citizens' initiatives and NGOs often aim to green society. They do this at a local level, but often large-scale changes are also pursued, changes we can label “transitions” towards a more nature-friendly society. However, such transitions are not easy to achieve. By drawing up and reflecting on a Theory of Change (ToC), active citizens can develop...

Following the Paris Agreement, investing in renewable energy production at sea is perceived as a promising development. In addition, food security challenges place increased focus on utilizing seas and oceans while biodiversity and ecosystem integrity must be safeguarded. In the North Sea, these three challenges are combined by the Dutch government...

Dit rapport maakt inzichtelijk welke economische waarde de zoekgebieden voor wind op zee in de periode 2030-2050 voor de Nederlandse visserij vertegenwoordigden in 2010-2019 en welke directe en indirecte sociaal-economische effecten sluiting van deze gebieden mogelijk voor de visserij en visserijgemeenschappen met zich meebrengt. De historische w...

Centre of debate on food production in the Netherlands today focusses on the issue of realising a cyclical mode of production and operating in a climate neutral way. This transition is envisaged not only for agriculture, but also for fisheries. Dutch fisheries face a multitude of challenges in addition to, as well as related to this circularity tra...

Deliberative governance is gaining increasing attention in the management of natural resources with conflicting stakes. Although disputed knowledge is known to affect deliberation, the role of perceptions is understudied. Based on a case study in the Dutch Wadden Sea, a marine protected area, we examine the social representations of shellfish fishe...

In de Nederlandse visserij spelen momenteel diverse ontwikkelingen: visgebieden zullen (deels) gesloten worden voor visserij door windparken op zee of voor natuurbescherming, er is een verbod op pulsvisseri,; de aanlandplicht moet worden uitgevoerd, en er is een Brexit in voorbereiding die mogelijk resultereert in sluiting van de Britse wateren voo...

This report describes the different perceptions of mussel farmers, NGOs, scientists and policy makers of a Rich Waddden Sea. The mussel covenant was a solution for a conflict between the mussel sector and nature organisations around the effects of spat fishing on natural mussel banks but seems to have returned to a deadlock position. In the covenan...

Naar aanleiding van het rapport ‘Wind op zee’ (Mol et al. 2019) is de vraag gesteld of en hoe de huidige ontwikkelingen, waar de visserijsector mee te maken heeft (Brexit, awaganlandplicht en het intrekken van de pulsontheffingen), invloed hebben op de economische waarde voor de visserij in de windparkgebieden en hoe deze ontwikkelingen elkaar beïn...

In pulse fishing, electric pulses are used to startle the target species from the seabed, after which they end up in thenet. The technique can only be used by fishers with a derogation. Pulse fishing is subject of various debates during the run-up to the European decision-making process on the possible lift of the derogation. Some stakeholders have...

Alle landen rond de Noordzee, in het bijzonder Nederland, Groot-Britannie en Duitsland, hebben plannen om grote hoeveelheden energie op te wekken met windparken op zee in het kader van het Klimaatakkoord van Parijs. Nederland heeft de ambitie om te kijken waar de aanleg van windparken kan worden gecombineerd met medegebruik door visserij, voedselpr...

How many undersized fish actually survive the process of being discarded? This question is relevant because of the European landing obligation, which obliges fishers to land undersized fish that are subject to a quota. Wageningen Marine Research, together with the fishing industry, has investigated three measures to increase the chances of survival...

Kunnen de overlevingskansen van ondermaatse vissen die terug worden gezet in zee, worden vergroot? Deze vraag is relevant vanwege de Europese aanlandplicht, die vissers verplicht om ondermaatse gequoteerde vis mee naar de wal te nemen. Wageningen Marine Research heeft samen met de visserijsector drie maatregelen onderzocht om de overlevingskansen v...

Nederland wil jaarlijk 11.5GW energie opwekken met windmolenparken op zee in 2030 met als doel de jaarlijkse Nederlandse CO2-emissie met 4 megaton te verminderen. Waar dit kan, zal de aanleg van windparken gecombineerd worden met pilots waarbij windmolenparken ook gebruikt worden voor visserij, voedselproductie of natuurherstel (Visie Noordzee 2030...

Hoeveel van de ondermaatse vis overleeft het terugzetten in zee eigenlijk? Deze vraag is relevant vanwege de Europese aanlandplicht, die vissers verplicht om ondermaatse gequoteerde vis mee naar de wal te nemen. Wageningen Marine Research heeft samen met de visserijsector de overlevingskansen van platvis en rog in de pulsvisserij onderzocht. Het ge...

How many undersized fish actually survive the process of being discarded? This question is relevant because of the European landing obligation, which obliges fishers to land undersized fish that are subject to a quota. Wageningen Marine Research, together with the fishing industry, has investigated the chances of survival of flatfish and rays in pu...

How many undersized fish actually survive the process of being discarded? This question is relevant because of the European landing obligation, which obliges fishers to land undersized fish that are subject to a quota. Wageningen Marine Research, together with the fishing industry, has investigated the chances of survival of flatfish and rays in pu...

Hoeveel van de ondermaatse vis overleeft het terugzetten in zee eigenlijk? Deze vraag is relevant vanwege de Europese aanlandplicht, die vissers verplicht om ondermaatse gequoteerde vis mee naar de wal te nemen. Wageningen Marine Research heeft samen met de visserijsector de overlevingskansen van platvis en rog in de pulsvisserij onderzocht. Welke...

Hoeveel van de ondermaatse vis overleeft het terugzetten in zee eigenlijk? Deze vraag is relevant vanwege de Europese aanlandplicht, die vissers verplicht om ondermaatse gequoteerde vis mee naar de wal te nemen. Wageningen Marine Research heeft samen met de visserijsector de overlevingskansen van platvis en rog in de pulsvisserij onderzocht. Hoe ga...

The agreements made in the mussel covenant signed by the Dutch industry, NGOs and government about the restriction of bottom seed fishing and the development of mussel spat capture installations (MZIs) have had significant consequences for the production and socio-economic aspects of the mussel sector. Scenario analyses show that the agreements o...

Tussen 2015 en 2019 wordt in het Europese Visserijbeleid gefaseerd een zogenaamde aanlandplicht ingevoerd. Wat houdt die aanlandplicht precies in? Deze vraag en nog 17 andere veelgestelde vragen worden in deze Q&A behandeld.

Nederland wil op grote schaal investeren in de ontwikkeling van windparken op zee. Tegelijkertijd heeft ons land verplichtingen rond het realiseren van natuurdoelen in het kader van Natura 2000 en de Europese Kaderrichtlijn Marien. De aanleg van windparken op zee beïnvloedt het mariene ecosysteem en de ruimte voor andere gebruikers; er zijn positie...

Self-regulation is now widely regarded as an effective mechanism for collective action aimed at sustainable management of common pool re-sources. The brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) fishing industry in the Netherlands has been working on the implementation of a self-management strategy since 2007, as part of its ambition to get certified to the Mari...

This report contains the findings of a scoping study into the marine fisheries sector of Kenya which took place between 30 January and 3 February 2017. Wageningen Marine Research was asked to carry out this study by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The study was aimed at describing the Kenyan...

This document is a report of the Second International Pulse Stakeholder Dialogue meeting hosted by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs in Amsterdam on 20 January 2017. The report contains the minutes of the plenary and open sessions. The dialogue meeting was organised in the context of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs approach to engage in...

In het nieuwe Gemeenschappelijke Visserijbeleid is vastgelegd dat vissers uiterlijk eind 2019 verplicht zijn de volledige vangst van alle soorten waarvoor vangstquota gelden, mee te nemen naar de wal (aanlandplicht). Tot nu moesten vissers soorten waarvoor ze geen vangstrechten hadden of niet marktwaardig waren, juist terug zetten (discarden). Dit...

Observations in the marine area are generally made with a specific purpose in mind. Costs can be reduced and marine knowledge improved when data are reused for multiple purposes. The EU is now actively moving towards this new paradigm. The Arctic Sea Basin Checkpoint (SBC) project addresses the availability of data sets, i.e. data provided in a coh...

The new Common Fisheries Policy marks a number of key changes to European fisheries management, including (a) the introduction of multi-annual management plans aimed at achieving the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) for all stocks and (b) the gradual introduction of a landings obligation to encourage more selective fishing practices. Their implement...

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the EU has recently been overhauled. In December 2013, the European Parliament and the Council agreed on a comprehensive CFP reform. It is now enshrined in a new legislative framework, the so-called 'new CFP basic Regulation' (Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013). As far as the conservation of marine biological resourc...

This report presents the results of a Dutch public-private capacity building (Knowledge to Knowledge or K2K) mission for fostering sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development in Myanmar. Commissioned by Solidaridad, the mission was conducted in February 2015, and facilitated by Myanmar’s Department of Fisheries (DoF) and the Myanmar Fisheries...

This report presents the results of a Dutch public-private capacity building (Knowledge to Knowledge or K2K) mission for fostering sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development in Myanmar. The objectives of the K2K mission were to: 1) analyse Myanmar’s aquaculture and fisheries knowledge infrastructure including a gap analysis; 2) identify futu...

Fisheries management in Europe is confronted by a situation of exceptional complexity such as is found nowhere else in the world. Not only is the coastline highly fragmented and deeply indented, with much of the marine space separated off into distinctive semi-enclosed areas like the Baltic, North, Mediterranean and Black seas, but responsibility f...

This short article is an invited opponent's response to a key note lecture Dr. Daniel Pauly gave at the MARE People and the Sea conference, Amsterdam (NL), 2006.

Summaries The article offers theoretical insights from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as to how natural resource management (NRM) perspectives might be enhanced. ANT asks us to abolish the conventional sociological practice of studying phenomena in terms of predefined categories and principles, as they hinder our analysis of how the stakeholders involv...

Aquaculture is an old established system of food production. The Romans were reputedly farming shellfish in the Mediterranean coastal lagoons some two thousand years ago; freshwater fish husbandry was developed on the monastic estates of western Europe during the medieval period. But it is only with the rapid expansion of marine aquaculture in the...

The Irish Republic is essentially an island state. Its long, irregular and in parts deeply incised coastline shelters nearly 900 ports, small harbours and landing places — though many lack the basic infrastructure for handling regular consignments of fish. At the time of entry into the EU in 1973, Ireland’s fisheries were seriously undervalued, wea...

In our view, Common Pool Resource Theory, in its present form, provides too limited scope for the analysis of complex CPR management (or lack thereof) and the facilitation of collective action initiatives aimed at sustainable management. Its concepts are problematic, since they are based on (i) a simplistic assumption of single use, (ii) a static r...

"The concepts and frameworks developed in common-pool resource (CPR) theory are increasingly being applied to problems associated with the management of complex CPRs at local and global level. Furthermore, existing frameworks are increasingly being adopted by organisations such as the World Bank as tools for crafting sustainable CPR use through col...

In this special issue, Steins and Edwards introduced the notion of nested platforms for resource use negotiation as a tool to facilitate collective action amongst multiple-users in complex common-pool resource management scenarios. Five discussion statements were put forward to aid the debate on multi-use platforms. This paper is a synthesis of the...

One of the key issues to be resolved in the management of natural resources is the extent to which resources can be used and managed in common. With its focus on shared rights, responsibilities and use, common pool resource (CPR) theory has much to offer natural resource policy and planning. However, the policy models and frameworks developed under...

The question of how to organize the sustainable exploitation of common-pool resources (CPRs) is an important issue on a global environmental agenda. We argue that the current approach to collective action in CPR management has a number of shortcomings related to (1) the focus on single - use CPRs and (2) the formulation of a priori design principle...

This paper introduces this Special Issue on the Role of Contextual Factors in Common Pool Resource (CPR) research and provides an introduction to CPR theory. It advocates an interdisciplinary, holistic approach to natural resource policy analysis, which assumes the entire resource system, and the wider social, cultural, ecological and economic envi...

In 1996, the new fish cages of an Irish salmon farm were sabotaged and juvenile salmon with a value of IR£ 250,000 were released, nearly putting the farm out of business. This deed was an act of protest against the growth of the salmon farming industry. The loss of fishing grounds, ecological and environmental concerns, and the perceived impact on...

Until only quite recently, human activity in Europe’s inshore waters made little impact on marine resources and one activity scarcely interfered with any other. But long term developments such as demographic growth, urbanisation, expanding demand for food and natural resources, the integration of resources into markets, technological innovation, th...

The management of common-pool resources (CPRs) has gained increased attention in the debate about sustainable environmental management. Research on CPR management has mainly concentrated on single-use resources. Since CPRs develop over time to include new extractive and non-extractive users, a multiple-use perspective on their governance is needed....

Much of the work on common-pool resources has tended to focus on `single-use' commons, where the resource system is used for extraction of a single `use' unit. However, as traditional commons evolve, research that explains the persistence of common-pool resources with multiple ownership, use and management structures will become increasingly releva...

"Collective action processes in complex, multiple use common-pool resources (CPRs) have only recently become a focus of study. When CPRs evolve into more complex systems, resource use by separate user groups becomes increasingly interdependent. This implies, amongst others, that the institutional framework governing resource use has to be re-negoti...

It is recognised that well-established rules are a necessary, but not sufficient condition of successful collective action (see Barrett, 1991; Eyborsson, 1995; Steins, 1995). Successful co-operation depends largely on the response of individual actors, influenced by incentives derived from both inside and outside the management regime. Contextual f...

The aquaculture industry and production has witnessed a dramatic growth during the past decade. Aquaculture development has number of advantages: (i) it generates employment in coastal communities, where employment opportunities are often scarce; (ii) it uses existing marine resources; (iii) it takes place in licensed areas with well-defined proper...

In 1993, the Dutch Sea and Coastal Fisheries Policy (SCFP) came into effect. The SCFP aims at the integration of fisheries and nature and the division of management responsibilities between the Government and the fishing industry. The first phase of the SCFP is currently being evaluated; in this evaluation, the impact of the co-management measures...

Under the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), autonomous state control of territorial waters exists effectively only in the 12 mile limit. The future status of these waters is at risk from the potential non-renewal of a derogation, which places jurisdiction for the 12 mile zone with the Member States, after the CFP review in 2002. In th...

This paper addresses the issue of overlapping fisheries regulations by multiple authorities for coastal fisheries in the United Kingdom. It examines one particular case study of the oyster fishers of the Isle of Wight, focusing on resource management regulations, fishermen's strategies to deal with ambiguous legislation, and the response of the var...

This Working Paper in Coastal Zone Management presents three case studies of fisheries co-management in the Dutch Wadden Sea: (i) the mechanical and non-mechanical cockle fishery; (ii) the mussel fishery; and (iii) the shrimp fishery. Its main objective is to describe how the Sea and Coastal Fisheries Policy (SCFP), which came into force in 1993 an...

Europe’s flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) fisheries are in crisis: output dropped from over 100,000 tonnes in the 1950s to 12,000 in 1989 due to diseases, pollution and overfishing. In some Member States, the natural population is nearly extinct (O’Connor et al., 1992). Since cultivation of O. edulis is still in an experimental stage, natural beds must...

In collective action research there is a tendency to formulate 'conditions for successful co-operation'. Unfortunately, little or no attention is paid to the impact of the social, cultural, economic, historical, political and institutional environment on a collective management system. Collective action is, however, a social process; it is the outc...

Agenda 21, in terms of integrated, participatory and sustainable development of coastal resources, can only become a feasible objective if we adopt a fresh approach to coastal zone management (CZM). Hitherto, many CZM plans focused on bio-physical processes and the planning of human activities, but tended to ignore the fact that local users devise...

In this Working Paper, the Oakerson framework, which is an heuristic tool to analyse the management of resources that are held in common, is made applicable to multiple-use commons. The original Oakerson framework focused on the analysis of resources that are characterised by one single, extractive use. However, this assumption is unrealistic for t...

Regulations for the UK’s inshore fisheries have become more and more complex in the past few decades. One factor that contributes to this complexity is the presence of multiple management authorities. Although the management of inshore fisheries within 6 nautical miles from the shore is the responsibility of Sea Fisheries Committees, legislation by...

"A strategy for a group of people who fear that future access to a common resource is endangered, is to create an 'artificial common property' within this resource. The question is whether this strategy forms a sound basis for the sustainable management of this new property and, on its turn, the management of the larger resource. "In Connemara, Ire...