The early foundations of European fisheries social science: a selective review

Abstract In this contribution to Maritime Studies , on the 30th anniversary of its start date, for the first time we make available the selective bibliography of the European Social Science Fisheries Network. The preparation of an annotated bibliography, concentrating mainly on the period 1985–96 but also charting the early origins of the field, was and still represents an important step in developing a greater awareness of the contribution to fisheries research made by the social sciences. In reviving the bibliography we present the first in-depth overview of the early, foundational development of fisheries social science literature in Europe. What emerges clearly is a shift in key paradigms from the bio-economic perspectives of the 1960s and 1970s to a new emphasis in the 1980s and early 1990s on property rights and institutional frameworks for fisheries management, including concepts of governance, decentralisation and delegated management. Together with the analysis of social relations within fishing communities, these strengths of the social sciences’ contribution to the understanding of fisheries marked the arrival of the social sciences as a key player in policy related research in fisheries management. They would play a significant role in structuring future, contemporary approaches of the social sciences and their relevance to fisheries and maritime studies and policy. The paper is therefore an aid to current and future scholars, providing both an insight into the fundamental, underpinning social dimensions of fisheries and a means to effectively position their work in relation to the early foundations of the field.