A segmented approach has not helped to change the negative trend of many of the world's fisheries, making evident the need to venture into a new paradigm: the incorporation of the SES approach, where issues such as non-linear ecological dynamics and Human decision making are receiving increasing attention for resource management. Using a correlative modeling approach and employing spatially explicit variables in their contribution to this Research Topic, Torres-Irineo et al. propose that this approach seems appropriate to learn more about the factors that define the spatial distribution of small fleets scale and its potential fishing sites, thereby determining emerging behaviors of the fishing system. Papaioannou et al. combined qualitative interviews with quantitative analysis of fishing records and ecological studies and concluded that following fish is rare, while the most common response was a change in the target species and therefore a change in the composition of the catches; understanding the cultural and regulatory factors behind these emergent adaptive responses will be key for many fisheries facing similar challenges due to climate change. ...this Research Topic presents a work that systematically documents the current understanding of the social sciences of the multiple human dimensions that must be incorporated into ecosystem assessments and the general approach of each of them within of Comprehensive Ecosystem Assessments (CEA) and other ecosystem-based fisheries management efforts (Szymkowiak).