Youth recruitment and retainment in small-scale fisheries: Factors influencing succession and participation decisions in Cameroon

Fisheries systems face enormous pressures from increased fish demand, decreased fish catches, and an ageing fishing population. As a case study, we investigate how climate change stressors, capacity-building opportunities, and the introduction of climate-smart innovations, tools and information may influence youths’ succession decisions in small-scale fisheries (SSF). We collected empirical data from a survey with the children of SSF actors to identify the factors promoting or hindering succession in fish harvesting activities through a simple random sampling of 415 youths in six fishing communities in Cameroon. The probit model results revealed that youth participation and succession decisions are positively influenced by their education, nationality, that is, being a migrant, desire to be employed full-time in fisheries-related activities, climate-smart innovations, tools and information, and capacity-building opportunities. Increasing temperatures and uncertainty in fish availability due to climate change negatively influence their succession decisions. We find that parents do not encourage their children to participate in SSF due to climate change impacts, which are reducing fish catch and due to a lack of suitable climate-resilient innovations and capacity-building opportunities. The study provides evidence that interventions that create an enabling environment for youths’ participation in fisheries-related activities are important to secure the future of SSF in Cameroon.