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.