Acceptable sustainability in the fishing fleet

This article discusses the performance of the Norwegian fishing fleet within an acceptable level of sustainability. Previously, the cod-fishing fleet has been evaluated at the attributes—accident risk, employment, profitability, quality of the fish meat, catch capacity, greenhouse gas emissions/acidification, and bycatch/selection. The assessments focused on the first four steps of the systems engineering process, i.e., from needs identification to trade-offs of system alternatives. The objective of this paper is to focus on the last steps of the process; design, solve, verify, and test, to improve the decision-basis for fisheries management in order to increase sustainability in the fishing fleet. More specifically, this means to analyze the decision-making situation and develop acceptance criteria of a sustainable Norwegian cod-fishing fleet to enable fisheries management to monitor the sustainability performance of the fleet on a regular basis.     

System evaluation of sustainability in the Norwegian cod-fisheries

Overcapacity in the fishing fleets is considered as the most serious threat to sustainable fisheries. More effective fishing vessels and catching gear contribute to increased catch capacity. Increased catch capacity causes environmental problems such as overexploitation and calls for larger quotas. The problem of overcapacity indicates the need for a stronger integration of technological aspects into fisheries management. This article assesses the differences in sustainability between the Norwegian ocean and coastal fishing fleets in the cod fisheries, by using systems engineering methods. Attributes of sustainability in the Norwegian cod fishing fleets are investigated, as well as acceptance criteria and performance indicators. The results show that there are huge differences in the performance between the vessel groups, and that the results of an evaluation of sustainability in the fishing fleets are dependent on which attributes are explored. Thus, the discussion may contribute to a better decision basis and improved sustainability in fisheries management.     

The challenge and the promise of indigenous peoples’ fishing rights—from dependency to agency

Access to and use of natural resources as a cornerstone in sustaining indigenous cultures has recently obtained considerable international attention. Access to marine resources has become a key issue for many aboriginal peoples struggling to move from dependency on the nation state to self-determining agency. This essay describes and compares recent developments respecting Eastern Canadian Mi’kmaq and North Norwegian Saami initiatives to achieve recognition and realization of their aboriginal entitlements. Core characteristics of the Canadian and Norwegian nation state responses to these initiatives are outlined and discussed, with an emphasis on the implications of aboriginal entitlements for the present ‘privilege allocation’ premise and paternalistic character of fisheries management systems. The essay concludes with a discussion of the potentials for an alliance between coastal zone non-indigenous peoples and indigenous peoples for the purpose of developing an alternative approach to fisheries management that will enhance local agency in and the ecological sustainability of fisheries livelihoods.     

What is good for the fishermen, is good for the nation: co-management in the Norwegian fishing industry in the 1990s

This paper analyses the concept of ‘co-management’ and tries to explain why co-management has recently become important to different types of fisheries administration. A preliminary analytical framework is sketched, before going on to describe the Norwegian co-management system, known as ‘centrally directed consultation’, where fishermen's representatives are established on a wide range of organisations that exert a direct influence on fisheries policy, including not only quota management but grant aid, sales, research and education. The final section is devoted to the lessons that may be learned from the Norwegian experience, bearing in mind the particular background of Norway and its historical setting.     

Leaning on user-groups: The role of civil society in fisheries governance

Fisheries have long been managed through public–private partnerships based on collaboration between government and user-groups. The alleged benefits of involving the latter—as representatives of civil society—are a management system that is more flexible and legitimate than one based exclusively on top–down command and control. A question that is rarely addressed is whether civil society is up to the task. Are voluntary associations fit—‘technically’ and ‘democratically’—to take on management responsibilities? Assessing the pros and cons of involving civil society in fisheries governance requires a closer look at the role of user-groups in public policy-making. This paper attempts to do that by examining certain aspects of the Norwegian system of fisheries management, focusing—in particular—on the role of its most prominent civil society player: the Norwegian Fishers’ Association. The association has long been a privileged partner, virtually monopolizing the attention and goodwill of government. How has this been justified, and does it still serve its original purpose? As the fishery has changed, so—we contend—has the association: from something akin to a public interest group into what is essentially a ‘trade union’ pursuing the economic interests of its most powerful members. How and why did this change—in goals and priorities—come about, and is it tenable that this particular partnership continues? What lessons, if any, can be drawn from the Norwegian case about the pros and cons of user involvement, interactive governance and the role of civil society in fisheries management?     

Category, narrative, and value in the governance of small-scale fisheries

Since the 1970s, small-scale fisheries have had an important place in fisheries social science and in fisheries management. While there has been substantial discussion of what constitutes the category of small-scale fisheries, its considerable ambiguity is nevertheless often passed over. This paper argues that while the category of scale fisheries can be best understood in terms of scale, the underlying reason for the power of the category lies in the values of social justice and ecological sustainability that it has come to represent in response to dominant high modern narratives of change. Fisheries governance may better be served by prioritising these values rather than by making a fetish out of small-scale fisheries.     

Sharing responsibilities in Danish fisheries management—experiences and future directions

During the last decade, devolution of responsibilities of fisheries management has increasingly become an issue in the political debate. The CEC and national governments have expressed an interest in sharing responsibilities for fisheries management with stakeholders. This article investigates the dynamics and constraints of the devolution process in general and in relation to Danish demersal fisheries by answering the following questions: What are the important factors to consider with respect to sharing responsibilities in fisheries management; how can this delegation and/or devolution of responsibilities be institutionalised? And what kind of decisions should be delegated to stakeholders and to whom?     

A cautious fisheries management policy in South Africa: the fisheries for rock lobster

In South Africa, political emancipation has resulted in a new fisheries policy which is embodied in the Marine Living Resources Act of 1998. The pillars of the new policy are sustainability, equity and stability within the industry. We look particularly at a suite of mainly accessible species, the rock lobsters (truly spiny lobsters), at their management, at control measures, at realities of resource status and harvesting, at naturally occurring ecosystem stimuli, and investigate whether the policy can achieve what it aims to do, to provide more for more South Africans at levels at least equal to what they do today. Put simply, are the political aims and the sustainability aims of the new policy mutually achievable?     

Sustainability in New Zealand's quota management system: A convenient story

New Zealand's fisheries management institutions represent a globally recognised story of a successful sustainable management regime, an accolade perceived to be based on its early and comprehensive adoption of a quota management system (QMS). This article questions these assumptions. There are three main strands to the argument. First, that the interpretation of sustainability in the New Zealand QMS disregards the social while simultaneously accentuating a particularly neoliberal economic paradigm in which sustainability is directed towards sustaining the wealth generating potential of quota holdings. Second, while in theory there is a separation of biological and economic conceptions of sustainability in the QMS, these processes are, in fact, deeply intertwined. Third, that the sustainability brand works to legitimise the privatisation and marketization of marine environments, to protect the income stream of quota investors, and to effectively incorporate and discipline dissent.     

When the oil and fishing industries live side by side

When two industries make competing claims to exploit resources in the same geographic area, conflicts may arise. While a substantial literature deals with the resolution of such conflicts between industrial interests and environmental conservation, the research on successful resolution of coastal industry-industry conflicts is limited. As noted by [45], “the emerging field of coastal conflict research has no clear contours. It develops from different disciplines, theories, approaches, practical knowledge requirements, and does not become, as far as can be foreseen, a fully integrated knowledge field…in-depth analysis of conflicts and empirically based approaches to conflict resolutions are hardly found”. This article fills some of these knowledge gaps by empirically analysing how and to what extent the Norwegian regime governing the relationship between the oil and fishery industries along the Norwegian coast helps reduce conflict levels and resolve the conflicts that nevertheless arise. The article builds on both regime theory and conflict resolution theory to analyse its institutional design and effects, posing two research questions: First, what is the institutional design of the Norwegian oil and fisheries coexistence regime? Second: to what extent does the regime reduce the conflict potential and contribute towards conflict resolution?     

Towards ecosystem-based fisheries management in Norway – Practical tools for keeping track of relevant issues and prioritising management efforts

The present paper presents the practical implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) in Norway. This involves defining management objectives and developing simple and efficient tools to achieve an overview of management needs and prioritise among these, while integrating broader conservation issues and ensuring stakeholder involvement. A new Marine Resources Act entered into force in Norway in 2009. By integrating conservation and sustainable use as basic principles, the law represents a paradigm shift in the management of Norwegian fisheries. The law indicates which concerns should be addressed, but neither how nor how often evaluations should take place. That is for management to decide. A management principle in the Marine Resources Act confers on the Ministry an obligation to evaluate whether continued fishing at the present scale is justifiable, or whether improved management is required to ensure sustainability. A Stock table, and a table of "Catches of data-poor species" constitute a comprehensive system for monitoring the management principle. Along with a Fisheries table, these tables establish a framework for developing an ecosystem-based fisheries management by providing a basis and tools for prioritising the needs of new and/or revised management measures.     

Nuts and bolts in fisheries management—a technological approach to sustainable fisheries?

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, overcapacity in the fishing fleet poses a fundamental challenge in fisheries. Overcapacity leads to an increased pressure on fish stocks and a decrease in economic profit. The fishing fleet is marginalised economically, and overcapacity creates allocation conflicts between different gear and vessel groups. In addition, the expenses to control and management increase. Although Norwegian authorities have introduced several restrictions, for example total allowable catch, licenses, vessel quotas, and other regulatory measures, this article shows that the problems connected to overcapacity persist. Analyses of the technical capacity development show that there is an overall capacity expansion although the number of vessels is reduced. This development is an indicator of the dynamics of technological development over time, and the article discusses whether the concept of technology is sufficiently integrated into fisheries management. The important question now is whether analyses of the technical capacity development can serve as a positive supplement to the traditional fisheries management, which largely is based on input from the scientific disciplines biology and economics.     

Ecosystem-based fisheries management in small-scale tropical marine fisheries: Emerging models of governance arrangements in the Philippines

There has been a gradual evolution in fisheries management over the past decades from a focus on sustainability of a single species or stock and resources to a focus on marine ecosystems. Among the issues to be addressed for effective implementation of ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) are the appropriate governance arrangements and scale for management. The purpose of this paper is to examine these issues of governance and scale as related to EBFM in tropical developing countries through an analysis of approaches being taken in the Philippines to manage fisheries on a multi-jurisdictional level. The management of fisheries and coastal resources in a number of bays and gulfs, which represent marine ecosystems, is presented. The opportunities and constraints to ecosystem based fisheries management in the Philippines are discussed and lessons for broader application of these governance structures in tropical developing country marine ecosystems are presented.     

Conflicting goals in fisheries management—A study of the Norwegian cod fisheries

A multi-objective programming model has been applied to investigate conflicting goals of the Norwegian cod fisheries. The goals included in this article are economic rent and employment. Fisheries managers are confronted with the problem of how best to allocate the total allowable catch (TAC) of cod among eight vessel groups. Compromise solutions taking into account both objectives by giving them equal weights in the multi-objective programming model are calculated and discussed. This article is an extension of an earlier article in which the trade-off analysis was performed using data only for North Norway and one particular year. The present analysis includes the entire Norwegian cod fisheries and is carried out using time series data for 2003–2007, examining the annual variations of key economic and technological parameters of the cod fisheries. Based on the results from compromise programming, the article discusses management and policy implications of reallocation of the TAC by vessel groups.     

An historical account of Brazilian public policy on fisheries subsidies

This paper presents a historical account of Brazilian public policy on fisheries subsidies, and a discussion of problems and limitations resulting from such policy. From the 1960s to the mid-1980s, public policies led to a great increase in fisheries catch without appropriate consideration for the long-term sustainability of the resources, resulting in declining catches over the years. The goals of current Brazilian public policy on fisheries will not help in reducing overexploitation. This is because these policies are too optimistic about the abundance of fish in Brazil's EEZ, and are not accompanied by a fisheries management plan that is likely to work.     

Results based management in fisheries: Delegating responsibility to resource users

While the notion of results based management has been devoted recent attention in the context of reforming European fisheries management, it remains unclear what it entails. A conceptual model of results based management in fisheries is proposed as a way for public authorities to delegate specific management and documentation responsibilities to resource users. The model comprises three defining features: (1) That authorities define measurable objectives for the utilization of fisheries resources; (2) that resource users are made responsible for achieving these objectives and for (3) providing documentation that allows for an audit of the extent to which they are met. Selected cases are used to illustrate these features. Rationales and prospects of introducing results based management as an alternative in a European fisheries management context are discussed, giving consideration to how it may be pursued under the reformed common fisheries policy.     

Assessing local sustainability of fisheries system: a multi-criteria participatory approach with the case of Yoron Island,Kagoshima prefecture,Japan

In this study, we developed a framework for analyzing what we called “local accepted” fishery sustainability indicators by involving the fishery stakeholders in the Yoron Island, Japan. The results of study revealed that, from the degree of importance point of view, the security level and fishing management indicator are considered to be the most important indicators based on the stakeholders’ value. From the results of cognitive mapping analyses, we found that there are five indicators which have highest domain, while the succession rate indicator has the highest centrality value. It means that these indicators could be considered to have an important role for the overall sustainability of fisheries in the island.     

Gear liberalization in the Northeast Arctic cod fisheries – Implications for sustainability,efficiency and legitimacy

In Norwegian fisheries policy, strict gear regulation is a central instrument actively used to achieve fisheries political objectives. Gear regulations are locked in rigid regulative structures that limit the actors׳ ability to adapt practices to changing conditions. This article shows that gear liberalization could take place within the framework of sustainable resource harvest, while also contributing to improved economic efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Institutions, such as gear regulations, do not exist in a vacuum, but are linked to other institutional structures. Hence, within a framework of sustainability, the relaxation of one regulation may induce new regulations and institutions.     

The impact of community-based fisheries management (CBFM) on equity and sustainability of small-scale coastal fisheries in the Philippines

It was realized that with the increasing rate of deterioration of fisheries resource in the Philippines, there was no way the country could pursue a pathway of sustainable development. After enactment of the Local Government Code of 1991, the government actively promoted community-based fisheries management (CBFM) to conserve the coastal resources. The increased attention paid to community-based fisheries management has come about through experience of the poor performance of other approaches and through the study of traditional systems of community management of natural resources which have not only survived but also appear to perform better than the alternatives. This paper presents the results of a study to assess the impacts of CBFM projects in the Philippines, using meta-analysis, on the equity and sustainability of small-scale coastal fisheries. The outcomes indicate a positive impact of CBFM on the equity of both involvement in management and benefit sharing and sustainable management of fisheries resources through the investigation of effective magnitude (effect size) based on eight indicators. The positive summary effect sizes of participation, influence, control, access, and income conjunctly portrayed an improved equity in the fishing community by implementing CBFM. The positive summary effect sizes of compliance and conflict indicated an affirmative community and, therefore, sustainable fisheries management. While the negative summary effect size of resource revealed the difficulties in recovering fish abundance in a relatively short period of time. Also, ten years of implementation of CBFM was discovered as the minimum duration with perceived equity and sustainability improvement for most indicators.     

Assessment of eco-labelling schemes for Pacific tuna fisheries

Developments in fisheries governance in recent decades—notably the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing agreements—have established a framework of principles, standards, institutions and regulations that is broader and more complex than traditional fisheries management, which has generally focused on individual target species. As this framework has evolved, a number of seafood eco-labelling schemes have also developed. These schemes aim to identify well-managed fisheries and give competitive advantage to their products, thus translating the environmental awareness of consumers into direct support for sustainable fishing practices. This paper evaluates a number of these schemes in the context of international fisheries governance principles and considers the conservation benefits that may result from sustainability certification of Pacific tuna fisheries. The paper briefly summarises developments in eco-labeling of Pacific tuna fisheries in relation to the evolution of fisheries management, where focus has shifted from the maximum sustainable yield of individual tuna species to ecosystem-based approaches that directly consider the broader environmental impacts of fishing. The paper discusses two different ‘Dolphin Safe’ eco-labels, the third-party scheme of the Earth Island Institute and the intergovernmental scheme of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program, and two broader eco-labels offering sustainability certification of fisheries, ‘Friend of the Sea’ and the ‘Marine Stewardship Council’. The role played by seafood-industry associations with sustainability claims, such as the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, is also considered.