Assessment of Socioeconomic Impacts Through Physical Multipliers: The Case of Fishing Activity in Galicia (Spain)

Abstract

In the context of fishery management based on the ecosystem-based approach, it is necessary to develop methods and tools in order to facilitate the decision making and balance the socioeconomic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The goal of this document consists of providing an assessment tool of the possible socioeconomic impacts arising from the variation in the fishing opportunities. After defining what we call input-output physical multipliers, an application for the case of fishing in Galicia (Spain) was developed. The results show that this method is valid for obtaining a more accurate assessment of the possible socioeconomic impacts arising from a fishing supply shock, considering in equal measure the backward and forward linkages of fishing activity with other sectors. The defined multipliers permit the assessment and comparison ex ante of different management scenarios for fisheries. As a consequence, this is a method with the capacity to provide support for a better decision making to the fishery regulators and other decision-makers, facilitating the implementation of more holistic management frameworks.