• Fisheries

Fisheries

Commonly adopted approaches to managing small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in developing countries does not ensure sustainability. Progress is impeded by a gap between innovative SSF research and slower-moving SSF management. The paper aims to bridge the gap by showing that the three primary bases of SSF management (ecosystem, stakeholders’ rights and resilience) are mutually consistent and complementary. The authors note that almost all countries have laws and policies that articulate the broad objectives of their fisheries sector. The approach taken to managing a fishery will largely be driven by these prevailing policies and laws, but will also be influenced by international conventions, global goals and international and regional collaborative agreements. The fact that objectives of maximising fish production are increasingly being adjusted to accommodate principles of democracy, human rights, decentralisation, integration, accountability and adaptability, among others, is causing authorities to rethink their goals.

The paper gives management approaches that most suit the SSFs in the developing world. These include: ecosystem-based approaches, rights-based approaches, integrated approaches and participatory or collaborative approaches. Each of these approaches provides significant and unique contributions to fisheries management. The authors introduce management implementation frameworks that can lend structure and order to research and management regardless of the management approach chosen. These include: scoping, assessment, management, and monitoring and evaluation. It argues that an implementation framework is independent of management objectives, but in practice both the management approach and the implementation framework contribute concepts and ways of thinking that guide the choices that are made.

There are many different research perspectives that can be used for the diagnosis and advisory portions of the management process. Conventionally, research has been designed to serve the management approach of the day, and therefore, to estimate maximum sustainable yield from target species and monitor the effectiveness of management interventions. The choice of research approach has profound implications on the way the fishery is viewed, the questions asked, and the methods or tools employed. Like management approaches, research approaches have different emphases. Some focus primarily on ecological components, while others are founded on rights and entitlements principles or are concerned with institutions and broader governance issues.

The document concludes that if management is able to prevent the fishery industry from failing to deliver benefits that reduce poverty, then these approaches to SSF are more likely to succeed than conventional approaches. Nevertheless, there remains considerable work to be done to crystallise appealing theory into well-grounded and tested approaches and frameworks for analysis and policy advice.

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