Marine Policy 130 (2021) 104581 0308-597X/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Access rights, capacities and benefts in small-scale fsheries: Insights from the Pacifc Coast of Canada Nathan J. Bennett a, b, * , Natalie C. Ban c , Anna Schuhbauer a , Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova d , Megan Eadie e , Kiera Vandeborne e , Jim McIsaac e , Eric Angel f , Joshua Charleson g , Erika R. Gavenus d , Sarah Harper a , Terre Satterfeld d , Tasha Sutcliffe h , Rashid Sumaila a a Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada b The Peopled Seas Initiative, Vancouver, Canada c School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada d Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada e TBuck Suzuki Foundation, Victoria, Canada f Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Port Alberni, Canada g Hesquiaht First Nation, Ahousat, Canada h Ecotrust Canada, Vancouver, Canada A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Access Small-scale fsheries Marine social science Human dimensions Fisheries management Fishing rights ABSTRACT Small-scale fsheries depend on availability of and access to resources. Yet research on access – the combination of rights and capacities that enable fshers to beneft from available resources – has been limited compared to research on availability in Canadian fsheries. We surveyed 118 independent fshers in British Columbia, Canada to understand access rights (harvesting, entrance, transferability, security and protection), capacities (physical, human, social, cultural, political and fnancial assets), economic benefts from fshing, and actions to maintain or increase access. Participants generally perceived: strengths in physical, human and cultural assets; varied status in social and fnancial assets; and weaknesses in political assets. Access rights were generally perceived as poor with the exception of transfer rights. We employed modeling approaches to understand demographic charac- teristics of participants with higher rights and capacity, and which factors predicted feasibility and economic benefts of fshing. Higher perceived rights and capacities were both predicted by whether the participant self- identifed as Indigenous. Higher feasibility of fshing was associated with higher political and fnancial assets, higher rights, being non-Indigenous, rural residence, and higher incomes. Higher income from fshing was predicted by higher fnancial assets and being non-Indigenous. Qualitative results showed participants maintain or gain access through: preparation; non-political networking; political advocacy; augmenting licenses or quota; or, diversifcation and intensifcation of fshing activities. Yet, many participants reported feeling powerless. Our research emphasizes the need to address access in fsheries management. Our novel conceptualization and mixed methods approach to study access rights and capacities can be adapted and applied elsewhere. 1. Introduction The viability of fsheries livelihoods and the wellbeing of fsh har- vesters and coastal fshing communities depend on both availability of and access to fsheries resources [1]. Availability refers to the presence and abundance of fsh or other marine resources, which in turn depends on sustainability of harvests and the effectiveness of management [2,3]. Access relies on the combination of rights and capacities that support the ability of individuals or groups to harvest and beneft from available fsh or other marine resources [1,4–6]. Both access and availability are constantly changing, which infuences the level of benefts that fshers and fshing communities obtain from fsheries. * Correspondence to: Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. E-mail addresses: nathan.j.bennett.1@gmail.com, nathan.bennett@ubc.ca (N.J. Bennett), nban@uvic.ca (N.C. Ban), acschuhbauer@gmail.com (A. Schuhbauer), dacotah@mail.ubc.ca (D.-V. Splichalova), megan@bucksuzuki.org (M. Eadie), kieravand@gmail.com (K. Vandeborne), jim@bucksuzuki.org (J. McIsaac), eric. angel@nuuchahnulth.org (E. Angel), joshuacharleson@hotmail.com (J. Charleson), egavenus@gmail.com (E.R. Gavenus), sjmharper@gmail.com (S. Harper), terre.satterfeld@ires.ubc.ca (T. Satterfeld), Tasha@ecotrust.ca (T. Sutcliffe), r.sumaila@oceans.ubc.ca (R. Sumaila). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Marine Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104581 Received 4 January 2021; Received in revised form 28 April 2021; Accepted 28 April 2021