Sustainability assessment of the societal costs of fishing activities in a deliberative perspective

Assessing the social cost of fisheries is generally seen as a matter of how to monetize the components of fisheries. The paper presents an assessment of the societal cost of fishing activities as a social process that is expected to contribute to better management of aquatic resources that affects sustainable development in coastal areas around the world. The originality of this article is to consider the sustainability assessment in a deliberative perspective. It aims at defining the type of guiding concepts, frameworks and information sets that might be appropriate for decision support as we enlarge our scope of concern from fisheries to the ecosystems of eco-regions and the long term. In defining the societal cost of fisheries, through interviews, the objective is first of all to identify socially the effects (positive and negative) of fishing métiers. By comparing fishing activities in a multi-criteria and multi-actor analysis, the evaluation is perceived as a means for the actors to express in different ways (scientific indicators, institutional objectives, etc.) their judgment on the sustainability of fishing métiers. This analysis is the basis for defining the methods of monetizing these effects in different eco-regions (West African coastal upwelling, and deltas of Southeast Asia).