Exploring the Relationship Between Fishing Actors and Network Prominence in information-sharing Networks in Jamaican small-scale Fisheries

Abstract Information-sharing social networks support the adaptive capacity of small-scale fishers in the face of social and environmental change by allowing them to increase access to unique knowledge critical to their fishing success. The facilitation of information exchange may be supported and influenced by persons in key positions. Within these networks, centralized actors often control the flow and access to information. We take a descriptive approach to explore the relationship between fishing role and actor prominence within information-sharing networks in Jamaica. We hypothesized that fishing captains – given their perceived legitimacy and formal and informal authority – would be more prominent in information-sharing networks, and the information they shared would be perceived as more trustworthy and influential than that of non-captains. We collected personal social networks of fishers (n = 353) on 20 fishing beaches across four parishes in Jamaica using structured questionnaires. We found low centralization and density scores across the parishes, suggesting an even distribution of actor centrality. Our results show that non-captains play a more prominent role in information sharing than fishing captains in one parish suggesting that captains and non-captains play similar roles in facilitating information, and that differences lie in whether fishers perceive the shared information as trustworthy and influential in their fishing decisions and not the prominence of the actor. These findings contribute to understanding the various adaptive strategies fishers develop to meet growing social-ecological changes in small-scale fisheries. Identifying key informants in prominent positions can also support the development of more effective strategies to communicate and share information across communities.