The Role of Collaborative Governance Network for Building Adaptive Capacity in the Galapagos Small-Scale Fishing Sector

Collaborative forms of governance have a key role in building adaptive capacity in small-scale fishery systems. However, governance systems&rsquo structures and features are usually ignored, reducing opportunities to improve collaboration among multiple actors to cope with adverse drivers of change and enlarge trust in decision-making. This study used a social network analysis approach, based on descriptive statistics and exponential random graph models (ERGMs), to examine specific network patterns and configurations that may strengthen collaboration links in the Galapagos small-scale fishery governance system. We explored four main research questions: how do the collaborative ties in the Galapagos small-scale fishing governance system interact, which are the central and bridging organizations and agencies within the Galapagos small-scale fishery governance system, what are the organizational links of the Galapagos small-scale fishery governance system and their frequencies, and is there a tendency toward reciprocity, popularity, and sender-and-receiver network formations in the Galapagos small-scale fishery governance system? Our findings suggest a cross-level and cross-sectoral interaction between various organizations and agencies in the Galapagos small-scale fishery system. We identified central and well-positioned actors and network configurations whose interactions might be fundamental to strengthen the small-scale fishing sector’s adaptive capacity to face future crises caused by novel pandemics, climate change or other anthropogenic and climate drivers of change.