Social–ecological vulnerability and adaptive capacity in data-poor artisanal fisheries: integrating local ecological knowledge and socioeconomic indicators

Small-scale fisheries are complex social–ecological systems in which environmental change interacts with socioeconomic constraints, shaping the vulnerability of fishing-dependent communities. This study assessed socioeconomic vulnerability and fishers’ perceptions across 12 artisanal fishing communities along the marine–coastal margin of the Magdalena Department, Colombian Caribbean. Socioeconomic information and local ecological knowledge were obtained through structured interviews with 246 active fishers. A Socioeconomic Vulnerability Index (SEVI) was developed using three complementary indicators representing economic resources, human capital, and livelihood sensitivity: total income, education level, and fishing dependence. Fishers’ perceptions of environmental and governance pressures were analyzed using lexical analysis and Descending Hierarchical Classification. The SEVI revealed marked spatial differences in relative socioeconomic vulnerability, with community mean values ranging from 0.549 to 0.776. Tasajera, Don Diego, La Poza, Salguero Beach, and Achotes showed high relative vulnerability, whereas the remaining communities showed moderate vulnerability. Fishing dependence ranged from 0.425 to 0.669 but did not correspond directly to overall SEVI rankings, emphasizing the multidimensional nature of socioeconomic vulnerability. Sensitivity analysis showed that community rankings were insensitive to normalization procedure but more responsive to weighting assumptions. Leave-one-out analysis further indicated that community rankings were particularly sensitive to the inclusion of education, highlighting the distinctive contribution of human capital to differences among communities. Fishers identified overexploitation, pollution, fishing pressure, climate variability, and institutional limitations as major perceived challenges affecting artisanal fisheries. Integrating socioeconomic indicators with local ecological knowledge provides a practical framework for identifying relative vulnerability patterns and supporting place-based, adaptive fisheries governance in data-poor coastal social–ecological systems.