Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Marine Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol Contribution to the study of sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries in Chile Hugo Robotham a,∗ , Eduardo Bustos b , Francisco Ther-Rios c , Marcela Avila b , Matías Robotham d , Carlos Hidalgo e , Jorge Muñoz b a Universidad Diego Portales, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas, Chile b Universidad Arturo Prat, Centro de Ciencia y Tecnología, Puerto Montt, Chile c Universidad de Los Lagos, Centro de Estudios Regionales y Políticas Públicas, Chile d Testdata Consultores S.A, Chile e Universidad de Los Lagos, Programa ATLAS, Chile ABSTRACT The present work aims to advance the study of sustainability in the small-scale fishing sector by exploring the relationships between the four pillars (economic, social, environmental and institutional) of sustainable development, based on a set of proxy indicators for each one. Faced with a lack of calibrated indicators for the artisanal fishing sector in Chile, the first stage was to identify a set of sustainability indicators that could be used to this end. Subsequently, using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the relationships of causality between the pillars were explored, and finally, from the scores obtained for each pillar through structural equation modelling, a sustainability index was determined for each fishing community. This index will provide an indicator with which to measure and compare the relative sustainability of the fishing communities found within three different zones. The results obtained show important differences between the sustainability indices of the three zones, with fishing communities in the northern zone having a lower sustainability index, while those in the central and southern zones have a higher sustainability index. Several causal relationships between the pillars were detected. 1. Introduction The fishing communities that can be found along Chile's extensive coastline present a complex challenge for the sustainable management of the sea as and its resources. The diverse biological, territorial and sociocultural dimensions of these communities, together with the speed of changes that are being brought about by national and international economic drivers, has resulted in a lack of territorial management models that are sensitive to local context. The diversity of stakeholders and interests adds another level of uncertainty and complexity, with the potential to trigger conflicts of interest that are not conducive to the establishment of collaborative resource management regimes. Until now, scientific interest in these communities and fishing institutions [1] has been reduced to local interventions, and even when progress has been made in coastal planning, issues relating to knowledge gaps and poor or ineffective communication between stakeholders remain. As result, several daily practices are left out of development strategies for artisanal fisheries and the communities in which they are located. The need to refocus territorial management approaches is evident, in order to achieve an integrated and interdisciplinary model that enhances sustainable development strategies. To advance in this direction, several studies propose the adoption of models centered around four integrated and interlinked pillars: economical, environmental, social and institutional [2–4]. For Chilean small-scale fishing sector, however, there are no studies that have analyzed how these pillars are related to sustainability, nor have the most appropriate sustainability indicators for each of the four pillars defined. Several possible reasons exist for the absence of studies of this nature, such as the complexity of marine ecosystems and the lack of sus- tainability indicators that can determine multidimensional information. Improving our understanding of the pillars that support the sustainable development, and the way in which they interact with one another, is a task that is still pending for the artisanal fishing sector. This work aims to advance the study of sustainability in the small- scale fishing sector by exploring the relationships between the pillars, based on a set of proxy indicators for each one. Faced with a lack of calibrated indicators for the artisanal fishing sector in Chile, the first stage was to identify a set of variables that could be used to this end. Subsequently, using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) [5], the relationships of causality between the pillars were explored, and finally, from the scores obtained for each pillar through structural equation modelling, a sustainability index was determined for each fishing community. This index will provide an indicator with which to measure and compare the relative sustainability of the fishing communities found within three different zones. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103514 Received 15 May 2018; Received in revised form 30 April 2019; Accepted 30 April 2019 ∗ Corresponding author. : Avenida Ejercito 441, Santiago, Chile. E-mail addresses: hugo.robotham@udp.cl, hugo.robotham@mail.udp.cl (H. Robotham). Marine Policy 106 (2019) 103514 Available online 10 May 2019 0308-597X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T