Ten years of dynamic co-management of a multi-species reef fishery

Abstract Co-management, a governance process whereby management responsibility is shared between resource users and other collaborators, mainstream approach for governing social ecological aspects of small-scale fisheries. While many assessments co-management are available single time periods, across longer time-scales rare–meaning the dynamic nature, long-term outcomes, insufficiently understood. In this study we analyse ten-years catch effort data from co-managed, multi-species reef fishery in Solomon Islands. To further understand social, dynamics also draw on interviews with fishers managers that had been conducted throughout same decade. We aimed to answer (1) what temporal trends fishing effort, harvesting efficiency, composition within beyond periodically-harvested closure (i.e. principal preferred tool Pacific island fisheries), and, (2) internal external drivers acted upon fishery, its management. Despite high closure, per unit remained stable ten years. Yet taxonomic changed substantially as species targeted early decade became locally depleted. These observations indicate both frequency volumes harvested may have outpaced turnover rates target species. argue reflects form hyperstability declining abundance not apparent through since it masked by shift alternate community sustained adapted their arrangements over response pressures some signs changes, were capabilities govern. collaborative, knowledge exchange, learning adaptive need even more attention deal complexity, particularly local distal fisheries intensify. Graphical abstract