Measurement and Comparison of Different Dimensions of Sustainable Coastal Fishing Management in Beach Seine Cooperatives in Guilan

Sustainable coastal fishing management includes different components and factors. One of the practical initiatives to achieve sustainability is to evaluate or measure different criteria of sustainability and measuring sustainability of each system needs its own indicators. This study aimed to investigate different criteria of sustainable coastal fishing management in Beach Seine Cooperatives (BSC) in Guilan Province of Iran and to analyze different aspects of sustainable coastal fishing management in the cooperatives. The statistical populations of the research were ۵۸ active BSC’s of Guilan Province, ۳۶ of which were determined through formula of Cochran and were selected randomly. Sampling was done from September ۲۰۱۱ to April ۲۰۱۲.The method used in this research was descriptive-survey research and data was gathered through questionnaires. Reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed with Cronbach's Alpha that was calculated for each of the seven criteria of the questionnaire (Cronbach's α coefficients ranging from ۰.۷۸ to ۰.۹۳). The construct validity was analyzed with a factorial analysis of the main components whose applicability was verified by means of Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the KMO test (acceptable with values above ۰.۶). Technique used in this study was Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA), a general approach that can analyze complex problems involving multiple criteria used in sophisticated systems such as fishing. MCA is a decision-making tool to analyze and evaluate multiple indicators under a participatory group decision-making environment. Seven variable criteria of sustainability indicators including ecological, economic, social, institutional, coastal management, restocking the reserves, and resource conservation indicators were investigated. According to the results, social sustainability in BSC cooperatives had the best situation among different criteria of sustainable coastal fishing management, while the economic coastal management and resource conservation criteria had unfavorable status of sustainability.