Table 1_Social–ecological vulnerability and adaptive capacity in data-poor artisanal fisheries: integrating local ecological knowledge and socioeconomic indicators.docx

Tasajera, Don Diego, La Poza, Salguero Beach, and Achotes showed high relative vulnerability, whereas the remaining communities showed moderate vulnerability. Fishing dependence ranged from 0.425 to 0.669 but did not correspond directly to overall SEVI rankings, emphasizing the multidimensional nature of socioeconomic vulnerability. Sensitivity analysis showed that community rankings were insensitive to normalization procedure but more responsive to weighting assumptions.

Leave-one-out analysis further indicated that community rankings were particularly sensitive to the inclusion of education, highlighting the distinctive contribution of human capital to differences among communities. Fishers identified overexploitation, pollution, fishing pressure, climate variability, and institutional limitations as major perceived challenges affecting artisanal fisheries. Integrating socioeconomic indicators with local ecological knowledge provides a practical framework for identifying relative vulnerability patterns and supporting place-based, adaptive fisheries governance in data-poor coastal social–ecological systems.</p>