Introduction to SWOT and PESTEL Analyses
Kieley Hurff Regional Aquaculture Coordinator
NOAA Fisheries
Southeast Regional Office
March 25, 2026
Caribbean Fishery Management Council’s Mariculture Hybrid Workshop
Carolina, Puerto Rico
What are SWOT & PESTEL Analyses?
Tools that can help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges which may affect an organization, project, or endeavor.
Complimentary strategic frameworks, together can provide a more holistic view of key factors that may impact (positively or negatively) what you are trying to achieve.
How are these tools helpful?
Help assess the current situation and visualize how to get where you want to be in the future.
Provide a more detailed understanding of the environment you’re operating in, to help make more well-informed, strategic decisions.
Help identify and leverage strengths and opportunities, while anticipating, planning for, and mitigating potential challenges.
What do SWOT & PESTEL Analyze?
SWOT looks at internal capabilities, and external opportunities and threats that could impact your work.
PESTEL considers external factors in greater detail, to help understand the broader environment and how it may affect your project, goal, etc.
SWOT
trengths
Assets, attributes, capabilities & resources beneficial to achieving goal (What’s working well? What is our competitive advantage?)
Weaknesses
Resources or capabilities that are lacking; inefficiencies
(Areas for improvement; how to address shortcomings?)
Opportunities
Can be leveraged to achieve goal, create positive impacts
(How can we leverage existing strengths & emerging trends?)
hreats
Obstacles, risks, barriers, or challenges that may be encountered
(What possible setbacks should we prepare for?)
PESTEL
E.g. policies & regulations
E.g. costs, markets/demand
E.g. public perception, consumer trends, workforce
olitical conomic ocial echnological nvironmental egal
E.g. infrastructure, logistics, research (existing; gaps) & innovation
E.g. weather/environmental conditions; species & resource protection
E.g. Laws (permitting & compliance considerations)
Weaknesses
Results from the PESTEL analysis
populate the Opportunities (O) & Threats (T) in the SWOT
SWOT and PESTEL Exercise
