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Teh, Lydia C. L. Louise S. L. Teh and Michael J. Meitner. Preferred Resource Spaces and Fisher Flexibility: Implications for Spatial Management of Small-Scale Fisheries. Human Ecology. April 2012, Volume 40, Issue 2, pp 213-226
Theme(s) : Small-scale fisheries
Countries : Malaysia
Many fisheries management interventions are in the form of spatial regulations that change fishers' access to fishing grounds. How fishers respond to regulations directly affects the ecological and socioeconomic outcomes of management objectives, but little attention is paid to fishers' willingness and ability to make spatial adjustments. We investigate the spatial preferences of small-scale fishers in Sabah, Malaysia, within a framework of mental maps and perceptions. We find that the majority of fishers fish within preferred resource spaces that were heavily influenced by perceptions of safety. Most fishers exhibit low flexibility to adapt to spatial changes, based on i) unwillingness to travel beyond preferred resource spaces; ii) unwillingness to leave the fishery; and iii) low to no alternative employment opportunities. We emphasize the need to uncover and understand human dimension parameters to reduce uncertainty surrounding human behaviour, and ultimately facilitate the attainment of fisheries management objectives
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Ziegler, Philippe E. Fishing tactics and fleet structure of the small-scale coastal fishery in Tasmania, Australia. Fisheries Research, Volumes 134–136, December 2012, Pages 52–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2012.08.011
Countries : Australia
The small-scale coastal fishery in Tasmania, south-eastern Australia, uses a large number of fishing gear types to target a range of fish, shark and cephalopod species. This study applied multivariate analyses of catch and effort logbook records to identify fishing tactics (characterised by fishing gear, target species, location and month) and vessel groups (characterised by their fishing activities) for the 17 gear types used in the fishery. A total of 35 fishing tactics were defined, with up to 10, mostly species-specific, fishing tactics per gear type. Subsequently, 20 vessel groups were characterised that were categorised according to three degrees of specialisation and a deepwater component. The analysis highlighted the strongly-interlinked fishing tactics and the high level of flexibility in selecting target species and fishing tactics. This flexibility should be taken into consideration in stock assessments and the management of this fishery that have traditionally focussed on single fish species and individual fishing methods.
Hauzer, Melissa; Philip Dearden and Grant Murray. The effectiveness of community-based governance of small-scale fisheries, Ngazidja island, Comoros. Marine Policy Volume 38, March 2013, Pages 346–354
Countries : Comoros
Conventional top-down, exogenous approaches to fisheries management have been ineffective in more traditional and small-scale fisheries. Yet, there remains little understanding of the effectiveness of alternative approaches. This case-study of small-scale fisheries in the Comoros examines how effective local fishing associations are at managing common fisheries resources, and provides some understanding of the underlying characteristics of effectiveness. Emphasis is placed on assessing governance effectiveness according to characteristics appropriate within the local context, and on suggesting ways to enhance local institutional strength and capacity to manage resources. Qualitative methods were used to collect data on local governance structures and management tools, fishers' knowledge and beliefs, and perceptions of the status of fisheries resources in four major fishing villages on the island of Ngazidja. Results show that fisheries management in the Comoros is informally shared between the State fisheries department, a national fishing syndicate, and village fishing associations. Village fishing associations play an active role in fisheries management by collectively designing, monitoring, and enforcing local regulations. Compliance with local regulations is high, primarily due to participatory decision-making, community-monitoring, and strong feelings of solidarity among fishers. Perceptions of the benefits of these regulations are also high. This suggests that by working within these pre-established informal management systems, collective governance of common pool resources can be achieved within communities, and feelings of empowerment and shared responsibility among resource users can lead to effective management practices
Isaacs, M. Recent progress in understanding small-scale fisheries in Southern Africa. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. Volume 4, Issue 3, July 2012, Pages 338–343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2012.06.002
Countries : South Africa
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Bank, Worldfish Center, International Collective in Support of Fish workers (ICFS), World Fisher Forum (WFF), international experts and researchers have all contributed to recent progress in understanding small-scale fisheries. The Big Number Project (BNP) has reconfirmed the importance, scale and size of this sector. Hence, it is crucial that fisheries governance and human rights based approaches secure social and economic justice for small-scale fishers and this should be in balance with environmental sustainability. This paper reviews recent progress in recognising and addressing issues in small-scale fisheries in southern Africa. Specifically it asks what approaches, frameworks, and concepts are driving the discussions and debates on small-scale fishing?
Davis, A and K. Ruddle. Massaging the Misery: Recent Approaches to Fisheries Governance and the Betrayal of Small-Scale Fisheries. Human Organization. Vol 71(3):244-254.
Common assertions about the benefits for small-scale fisheries under co-management and human rights approaches become untenable in the context of neoliberalism, because they facilitate the penetration into communities of rationalities and operational methods that betray resource harvesters by undermining family life and cultural systems and destroying the local social organization of production. Based on neoclassical economics, neoliberalism does not recognize cultural, historical, and social characteristics and so cannot accommodate power relationships, social class inequalities and exclusion, social class-based exploitation, vested interests, and wealth appropriation that all must be overcome to deal effectively with inequity, poverty, and powerlessness. These weaknesses are ignored in the small-scale fisheries governance literature, which is characterized by a naïve faith in the magnanimity of the state to perform in a morally and socially positive manner. But the state is no benevolent patron of the public interest and democratic representation, although these are among the predominant underlying yet unstated assumptions in the recent approaches. Rather, based on property ownership and the "individualization" of rights and decision making, it facilitates empowered social classes to further increase wealth and capital accumulation. Although portrayed as benefits of the recent management approaches, democracy, popular participation, institution building, partnership, and local knowledge are sought by the state to legitimize the imposition of market discipline, not for their intrinsic value.
Ratner, Blake D., Edmund J.V. Oh and Robert S. Pomeroy. Navigating change: Second-generation challenges of small-scale fisheries co-management in the Philippines and Vietnam. Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 107, 30 September 2012, Pages 1
Countries : Philippines, Vietnam, South east Asia
Early efforts to apply the concept of fisheries co-management in Southeast Asia focused primarily on building the effectiveness of local management institutions and advocating the merits of the approach so that it would be applied in new sites, while gradually learning and adapting to a range of obstacles in practice. Today, with co-management widely embraced by the research community and adopted as policy by an increasing number of governments, a second-generation perspective has emerged. This perspective is distinguished by efforts to navigate and influence change in the broader institutional and governance context: (a) a more sophisticated appreciation of politics, power relations, and the role of the state, (b) efforts to manage resource competition beyond the fisheries sector, (c) building institutions for adaptation and learning, and (d) recognizing divergent values and goals influencing fisheries management. This paper traces the evolution of this second-generation perspective, noting how it has built on learning from early practice and how it has been cross-fertilized by theoretical innovations in related fields, notably resilience thinking and political ecology. We illustrate this evolution through analysis of experience in the Philippines, with a relatively long experience of learning and adaptation in fisheries co-management practice, and Vietnam, where fisheries co-management policies have been embraced more recently. Characterizing the second-generation perspective helps identify points of convergence in the research and policy community about what needs attention, providing a basis for more systematic cross-country and cross-regional learning.
Pomeroy, R.S. Managing overcapacity in small-scale fisheries in Southeast Asia. Marine Policy, Volume 36, Issue 2, March 2012, Pages 520–527
Countries : South east Asia
It is now almost universally accepted that most of the nearshore fisheries in Southeast Asia are overfished. It is also accepted that overcapacity is one of the leading causes of this overfishing. The problem of addressing overcapacity in small-scale fisheries in Southeast Asia is much more complex than that of reducing overcapacity in industrial fleets. In order to manage capacity, managers need to measure and understand how much capacity currently exists in the fishery and what is the desirable level of capacity that best meets the set of management objectives. The only feasible solution to overcapacity may be based on a coordinated and integrated approach involving a mixed strategy of resource management, resource restoration and conservation, livelihoods and economic and community development, and restructured governance arrangements. The reduction of overcapacity implies an increased focus on people-related solutions and on communities.
Hamel, Mélanie A. Serge Andréfouët and Robert L. Pressey. Compromises between international habitat conservation guidelines and small-scale fisheries in Pacific island countries. Conservation Letters, Volume 6, Issue 1, pages 46–57, February 201
Countries : South Pacific Islands
Wallis, Alofi, and Futuna are three small islands in the central Pacific Ocean, characterized by different reef geomorphologies. Following a request from the local Environment Service, we developed an indicative conservation plan for each island with two objectives: (1) representing 20% of the extent of each coral reef habitat within no-take areas while (2) keeping all subsistence fishing grounds open for extraction. The first objective was more ambitious than the current Convention on Biological Diversity (Aichi) targets. We found that both objectives could not be achieved simultaneously and that large compromises are needed. Due to the small size of these islands, and the dependence of local communities on coral reef resources, the fishery objective significantly limited the extent of most habitats available for conservation. The problem is exacerbated if the conservation plan uses larger conservation units and more complex habitat typologies. Our results indicate that international conservation guidelines should be carefully adapted to small Pacific islands and that incentives to make feasible the necessary reductions in available fishing grounds will probably be needed.
Franz, Nicole; Anthony Charles, Sloans Chimatiro, Sebastian Mathew, Friday Njaya, Robert Pomeroy and Lena Westlnd. An International Instrument for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines): Implementation Strategies. IIFET 2012. htt
In 2011 the FAO Committee on Fisheries tasked FAO with the development of an international instrument in the form of guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries (SSF Guidelines). The SSF Guidelines will facilitate the empowerment and mobilization of stakeholders to promote change towards sustainable small-scale fisheries and hence facilitate the realisation of the sector's potential to contribute to poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security, and economic growth. This process needs strong catalysts and follow-up to stimulate lasting and efficient change and there is a need to build bridges between different stakeholder visions, within the fisheries sector as well as outside, to ensure coherence and build political will. The session discussed modalities of engagement of different stakeholders to facilitate the future implementation of the SSF Guidelines, in particular with regard to information and research, capacity development, institutional arrangements and incentive structures
Ratner, Blake D. and Edward H. Allison. Wealth, Rights, and Resilience: An Agenda for Governance Reform in Small-scale Fisheries. Development Policy Review, Vol 30 (4): 371–398, July 2012. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7679.2012.00581.x
The diversity of social, ecological and economic characteristics of small-scale fisheries in developing countries means that context-specific assessments are required to understand and address shortcomings in their governance. This article contrasts three perspectives on governance reform focused alternately on wealth, rights and resilience, and argues that – far from being incompatible – these perspectives serve as useful counterweights to one another, and together can serve to guide policy responses. In order to better appreciate the diversity in governance contexts for small-scale fisheries it puts forward a simple analytical framework focused on stakeholder representation, distribution of power, and accountability, and then outlines principles for identifying and deliberating reform options among local stakeholders.
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