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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Galapagos Islands' seafood system from consumers’ perspectives
Castrejón, M.; Pittman, J.; Miño, C.; Ramírez-González, J.; Viteri, C.; Moity, N.; Andrade-Vera, S.; Caceres, R.; Tanner, M.K.; Rodríguez, G.; Barragán-Paladines, M.J. (2024). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Galapagos Islands' seafood system from consumers’ perspectives. NPG Scientific Reports 14(1): 1690. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52247-5
In: Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group). Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2045-2322; e-ISSN 2045-2322
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 395478 [ download pdf ]
Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Authors  Top 
  • Castrejón, M.
  • Pittman, J.
  • Miño, C.
  • Ramírez-González, J.
  • Viteri, C.
  • Moity, N.
  • Andrade-Vera, S.
  • Caceres, R.
  • Tanner, M.K.
  • Rodríguez, G.
  • Barragán-Paladines, M.J.
Abstract
    The COVID-19 pandemic's early stages severely impacted global fisheries, particularly areas heavily reliant on imported food and tourism like the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. To contain the spread of the virus, a full lockdown was implemented. However, the collapse of the tourism industry precipitated the worst economic crisis in the history of this multiple-use marine protected area. This paper examines the impact of the pandemic's early stages on consumption patterns and seafood security in the Galapagos from consumers' perspective, drawing on online surveys conducted during the lockdown. Our findings revealed pre-existing seafood insecurity across the archipelago, further exacerbated by the pandemic on the least-populated island. Nevertheless, the seafood system displayed moderated resilience to the pandemic’s socioeconomic disruptions. A variety of adaptive responses were adopted by Galapagos residents to cope with the lockdown. Consumers modified their seafood consumption habits, while fishers adapted their harvesting and marketing strategies. Such adaptive responses were shaped by the unique socioeconomic characteristics of each inhabited island and the ability of seafood suppliers to shift from a tourism- and export-oriented to a resident- and domestic-oriented market. This transition has created novel opportunities to foster a systemic transformation of the Galapagos seafood system to enhance its resilience against future crises caused by new pandemics, climate change, or other natural and anthropogenic drivers of change.
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