Socio-economic drivers and indicators for artisanal coastal fisheries in Pacific island countries and territories and their use for fisheries management strategies

This is the first regional study of artisanal fisheries in Pacific Island countries and territories that demonstrated that the future of the region's artisanal fishery sector and the livelihood of coastal communities will be highly dependent on alternative subsistence and income sources, which are necessary to reduce fishing pressure to a sustainable level to maintain ecosystem services and food security. The overall objective of this study was to identify socio-economic indicators and drivers to improve the understanding of the dynamics between socio-economic conditions and current exploitation levels of finfish and invertebrates of coastal communities in 17 Pacific Island countries and territories. We showed that exploitation rates and thus possible overexploitation are not solely the consequence of a simple demographic growth process but are in fact a result of the choices people have. Our results confirmed a close relationship between resource exploitation rates and economic development at the national level and the availability of alternative income opportunities at the community level. Multivariate analysis results suggest that communities in countries with somewhat unfavourable conditions and limited access to alternatives and fishing households in communities with overall favourable economic conditions are at highest vulnerability as they have the highest dependence on coastal fisheries resources. Alternative economic opportunities at the national scale and availability of alternative income at the community level vary significantly between cultural groups. Based on our results, the development of management strategies with realistic expectations of ensuring livelihood of coastal communities and sustainable resource use in Pacific Island countries and territories requires a hierarchical and integral approach. Major drivers identified at the regional, cultural and local levels should be used to identify priorities, to assess overall advantages and limitations at the different levels as well as the vulnerability of communities targeted, and to develop strategies accordingly.     

Trade and export orientation of fisheries in Southeast Asia: Under-priced export at the expense of domestic food security and local economies

Much of Southeast Asia's economic success is based on the under-priced export of valuable natural resources. Nowhere is this more evident than in fisheries—an important commodity in Southeast Asia, with significant export volumes contributing to the foreign exchange earnings of these countries.Existing fisheries and aquaculture policy development have lead to increased export earnings over the last decade, but have also resulted in increased extraction rates and incurred huge costs in terms of decreased local economic productivity and destruction of natural coastal resources. What is worrying is that Southeast Asian governments intend to further stimulate the export of fishery products, in particular shrimp from aquaculture, thereby increasingly threatening both domestic food security and the economic opportunities of local communities.This paper argues that: (1) current fisheries management and development policies are not contributing to domestic food security, are not profitable to the Southeast Asian macro-economy, and are doing much damage to coastal ecosystems and rural poor communities; (2) development of shrimp aquaculture has a negative impact and further expansion of the industry should be halted; (3) the considerable fisheries resources of the region should be used and managed to ensure domestic food security and economic development of the presently marginalized sectors of the population.Five recommendations that will help ensure sustainable use of coastal resources and deliver profits to the countries and communities that depend on these resources are made at the end of the paper.     

Food security and the Coral Triangle Initiative

The Asia-Pacific's Coral Triangle is defined by its extremely high marine biodiversity. Over one hundred million people living in its coastal zones use this biodiversity to support their livelihoods. Hundreds of millions more derive nutritious food directly from the region′s marine resources and through local, regional and global trade. Biodiversity and its values to society are threatened by demographic and habitat change, rising demand, intensive harvesting and climate change. In partnership with international conservation organisations and development funders, the governments of the region′s six countries have come together to develop the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. The CTI has explicit goals and defined targets for marine biodiversity conservation, but not for the food security of the region′s marine-resource dependent people, despite this being the wider aim used to justify conservation action. This article suggests how the food security aim of the CTI could be made more explicit. It outlines the complex pathways linking marine biodiversity with food security and argues that improved social science analysis, inter-sectoral policy and management interactions are necessary if conserving marine biodiversity is to contribute towards meeting food security challenges in the region.     

Patterns of species composition of beach seine fisheries off North-Western coast of Sri Lanka,fishers’ perceptions and implications for co-management

As in many developing countries, small-scale fisheries including beach seining contribute significantly livelihoods and food security of coastal communities. Beach seining in Sri Lanka is seasonal mainly during calm season deprived of strong monsoonal winds, and essentially a multi-species fishery. Knowledge about the seasonal occurrence of pelagic species is important to be known for proper planning of the fishing activity, especially due to the reason that beach seine fishers in many parts of Sri Lanka make decisions to attach the cod-end of correct type depending on the target species. The possibility of identifying pattern of seasonal occurrence of target fish species in beach seine fishing sites off the southern region of north-western coast of Sri Lanka was therefore investigated using Self Organizing Maps (SOM). The analysis indicated that beach seine fishers’ local knowledge to predict the occurrence of certain species in the fishing sites to adjust their fishing strategies to target desirable species was consistent with the findings of SOM approach. Consequently, it was concluded that as beach seine fishers use indirect indicators such as colour of sea water and behaviour sea birds predict the species occurrence fairly accurately, their local knowledge can be incorporated in the management planning of beach seine fisheries in the North Western coastal area of Sri Lanka.     

Managing coastal zone fisheries: A Mediterranean case study

Coastal fisheries are complex ecological and social systems, evolving in time with a shift from commercial towards recreational effort. We describe the coastal fisheries of Mallorca (W Mediterranean) and the management policies implemented to show the challenges faced at regional level to handle the different management tools used to conserve biodiversity and the social fabric in the coastal zone. Our example provides evidence of the complexity of fishing rights and how they can be adapted into practical fisheries management by combining fishing rights, open access recreational fishery, community-based management and biodiversity conservation.     

The transition from the Soviet system to a market economy as a cause of instability in the Estonian coastal fisheries sector

This study analyzes how overall changes in political and economic life during the last decade have affected the Estonian coastal fishery of the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of the nineties, the opportunity to export fish to the European market emerged. Opening of this new market resulted in rapidly increasing pressure on fish stocks. Some of the most important coastal fishery resources were over-fished because of high export market demand coupled with insufficient resource management and ineffective control and enforcement mechanisms. The costs associated with fishery have grown much more than the first-buyer prices. Additionally, dynamic development of the Estonian economy has resulted in substantial increases in earnings in other economic sectors and therefore the relative wealth of fishermen has steadily declined. This has resulted in increasing social problems. In conclusion, countries in transition may encounter serious difficulties in the fisheries sector, arising from privatization and economic reforms, which may affect the fisheries even years after the establishment of new ruling principles.     

Identifying fisheries dependent communities in EU coastal areas

The importance of local communities relying on fisheries is constantly emphasised in the European Union's Common Fishery Policy. Previous studies have analysed fishery employment for the entire EU based on statistical figures aggregated by administrative units at the regional or provincial level. This paper adopts a geographical approach to identify EU coastal communities relying on fisheries using accessibility analysis, principles at the basis of gravity models and disaggregated population and employment statistics. The dependency on fisheries is calculated comparing estimated employment from fisheries at each port with general employment in the areas of accessibility surrounding the port. By considering spatially disaggregated statistics the importance of fishing activities for specific local communities emerges more clearly in respect of previous studies. The map of fisheries dependent coastal communities identifies in 2010, 388 communities, out of 1697, with dependency ratios above 1%. Around 54% of total fishery employment is estimated in these areas. In terms of policy support, identifying and mapping these local fishing coastal communities is of key importance considering the strong priority assigned by the new European Union's Common Fishery Policy to fishery management at the regional level.     

Disentangling seafood value chains: Tourism and the local market driving small-scale fisheries

Identifying socio-economic drivers of small-scale fisheries is a fundamental step to understand impacts and pressures on fishery resources, and the behaviour of seafood trade actors. It is especially relevant for developing countries where such information is usually lacking and fisheries management is greatly needed. To address this gap, this study maps the structure of value chains of fish and marine invertebrates caught by small-scale fisheries from São Vicente, Cape Verde (West Africa), and examines the main socio-economic drivers behind the seafood trade on the island. Specifically, it shows how drivers, such as tourism and the local market, shape the preferences for certain species and how they affect the distribution of income among actors involved in the seafood trade. To collect this information, interviews were done with fishers, small-scale traders, market vendors, and restaurant owners, in all fishing communities of the island of São Vicente, in 2015. Tourism and the local market drive the exploitation of a wide variety of marine species, from small demersal low trophic level fish and marine invertebrates, to large pelagic high trophic level fish species. Moreover, the local seafood market, and especially tourism dynamics, contribute to the unequal distribution of income among actor groups, benefiting mostly restaurant owners due to their direct access to tourist consumers. Such findings have implications for local fishery resources management, food security, and fishing communities’ livelihoods.     

Moving beyond a top-down fisheries management approach in the northwestern Mediterranean: Some lessons from the Philippines

The management of fisheries resources in the northwestern Mediterranean is traditionally centralized and developed within the framework of coastal states and European Union common policies. In general, it has not been sufficiently effective in reversing the declining situation of fisheries resources and fishers in this region. This paper discusses the feasibility of moving away from a top-down approach in fisheries management towards a more participative and convergent mode of governance in the region. More specifically, the study focuses on MPAs as a fisheries management tool and evaluates their current establishment and management system in the French Mediterranean as a case study for the region. A brief review of the experiences on fisheries and MPA management in the Philippines is also presented to obtain insights on bottom-up and collaborative management approaches. Finally, possible opportunities for adopting a more decentralized and coordinated approach in fisheries management within the French socio-political system, and possibly in the northwestern Mediterranean region, are discussed. These include the existence of fishing community organizations in the region, such as the prud'homies in France and cofradias in Spain, starting with management strategies that are simpler to enforce and more acceptable to direct users, e.g., fishery reserves, and exploring co-management arrangements to manage fisheries at ecologically meaningful but operationally manageable scales as has been proposed by some development organizations. However, effective changes in the system would require major national policy and institutional reforms, social preparation and organizational strengthening which would take time and resources.     

Mariculture development and livelihood diversification in the Philippines

This paper aims to evaluate mariculture as sustainable livelihood diversification option for coastal fishers in the Philippines and guide policy development in this direction. Mariculture in the Philippines refers to the culture of finfishes, shellfish, seaweeds and other commodities in cages, pens, stakes and rafts in marine environment. This paper evaluates the biophysical and socioeconomic contexts in which mariculture operate. Ten years after launching the first mariculture park organized and managed by the country's government fishery agency, and the nationwide promotion of this program, only 273 ha or 0.54% of the 50,150 ha total area planned for development has been established. Mariculture has not met its expected results due to a number of problems. This paper revisits the policies, organization, governance and administration of mariculture parks in the country. It also discusses the issues and challenges with mariculture as a livelihood diversification option within the context of ecosystems approach to fisheries management in the Philippines.     

Applicability of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) in Japanese fisheries: A comparison of rights-based fisheries management in Iceland, Japan, and United States

ITQs have not yet been introduced by the Government of Japan. In coastal areas, fishery cooperative associations have traditionally played an important role in managing fisheries through self-imposed rules and peer-monitoring systems. Recently, however, the economic competitiveness of Japanese fisheries in the international market is being questioned. In this paper, a detailed examination of the pros and cons of the current system in Japan is compared to the current fishery management measures of Iceland and the United States, where attaining economically or biologically efficient outcomes may be prioritized in making fisheries management decisions. For many coastal fisheries in Japan, maintaining a management scheme in which stakeholders play an active role in determining fisheries measures seems more relevant if their priority is to maintain the stability of coastal communities and equity of stakeholders. Intensive dialog among stakeholders would be necessary to identify shared objectives of their fishery operations and to make decisions to establish specific steps toward the goal of increasing economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, or stability of communities and equity of stakeholders.     

The money side of livelihoods: Economics of an unregulated small-scale Indonesian sea cucumber fishery in the Timor Sea

Fishers from several ethnic groups on islands in eastern Indonesia seasonally fish for sea cucumbers at Scott Reef in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Timor Sea. Despite evidence suggesting that sea cucumbers are severely over-exploited fishers continue to voyage to the reef. How the traditional fishery operates under this condition and more broadly what economic drivers cause fishers to make the long and arduous voyage is vital to understanding this small-scale fishery and developing appropriate strategies for management. This study is the first to investigate these dynamic livelihood aspects using semi-structured interviews and fishers’ voluntarily recorded data on their catches, costs of fishing and the sales of those catches and income received over a six year period. The study demonstrated that costs, borrowings, and revenues differed between crews, leading to widely varying profits. Nevertheless, every crew that recorded the sale of their catches made a profit. Rapidly appreciating prices for their sea cucumber harvest, predominantly comprising low value species, was critical to maintaining the fishery's profitability. The income earned by some crews and boat owners were far greater than those potentially available to them through other livelihood strategies such as agriculture, coastal fisheries or trade opportunities. This study also suggests the depletion of high value sea cucumber species is ongoing. This Indonesian sea cucumber fishery at Scott Reef illustrates the linkages between stock sustainability, fishers’ livelihood outcomes, and the burgeoning Asian demand for sea cucumbers and the findings can inform the current management discourse on this small-scale transboundary fishery.     

Economic characteristics and management challenges of the Hawaii pelagic longline fisheries: Will a catch share program help?

To date, none of the fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands Region is managed under a catch share program. In light of the NOAA policy to encourage the use of catch shares as a fishery management tool, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) listed six commercial fisheries, including the Hawaii pelagic longline fishery, the largest in the region, as potential candidates for catch share programs. This study examines the baseline economic characteristics and the main challenges facing the Hawaii pelagic longline fishery and evaluates the impact of these on the desirability and feasibility of a catch share program for this particular fishery.     

Compliance of bag net fishery of Maharashtra coast,India with Article 7 of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries

The paper presents the results of evaluation of compliance of the bag net fishery of Maharashtra coast, India with the relevant clauses of Article 7 (Fisheries management) of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). Questionnaire-based approach that covered ten categories of stakeholders responsible wholly or partially for the management of the bag net fishery was used in the present study. Evaluation of the Code revealed an overall compliance level of 67.52%. The study identified the critical areas of low compliance levels that require immediate attention. Though the bag net fishery is the most common and traditional fishery of Maharashtra that supports livelihood of several fishers, there is no specific policy to regulate, develop and ensure sustainability of the bag net fish resources. Therefore the Code could be taken as a reference document to facilitate responsible management of the bag net fishery taking the local conditions into account. The findings of the present study could be used as a diagnostic tool to help in suggesting measures to ensure sustainability of the bag net fishery resources achievable by making amendments to the fisheries policies of the State.     

Policy and practice in the live reef fish for food trade: A case study from Palawan,Philippines

The live reef fish for food trade is a highly significant fishery that provides income for many coastal communities in the Asia-Pacific region but faces challenges relating to sustainability. This paper draws attention to the large gaps that exist between policy and practice in the live reef fish for food trade in Palawan, Philippines. While many policies have been introduced over many years, effective implementation remains a challenge. We show how the implementation of successive sets of policies has been hindered by three broadly inter-related features of the local social landscape: the capacity of government institutions and legal frameworks to implement regulations, the distinctive culture of fisheries governance in the Philippines, and the perspectives and practices of local fishers themselves. By focusing on the gaps between policy and practice, we highlight the ongoing need to examine more explicitly the ways in which local contexts shape the effectiveness of implementation, enforcement and policy more generally.     

Transboundary fisheries management in the Amazon: Assessing current policies for the management of the ornamental silver arawana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum)

The management and governance of shared stocks have long been identified as a challenge to achieve long-term sustainability in fisheries. This is the situation of fisheries in the Amazon basin, a region shared by nine countries. This paper provides an overview of the social-ecological outcomes and management implications of sharing fish stocks among countries with different public policies, taking the valuable Amazonian ornamental silver arawana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) trade as a case study. Specifically, it (i) presents and discusses the policies of Colombia, Peru and Brazil for the silver arawana fishery, and how these are conducive for the successful management of this shared transboundary fishery; and (ii) analyzes the market for the ornamental silver arawana and how it affects the ability to sustainably manage the fishery. The interplay between the multiple environmental, economic and social dimensions involved in the ornamental silver arawana fishery affects the sustainability of this species even in Brazil, where this fishing is forbidden but still illegally caught by Colombians and Peruvians. Among the factors that make fisheries policies inefficient in this region are: (i) incongruent policies between the countries and institutions with low organizational capacity to accomplish the established policies; (ii) environmental heterogeneity of Amazonian aquatic systems, which requires local and adaptive measures; and (iii) complex socio-economic relationships in the live-fish trade business. Legally binding efforts to reduce problems derived from shared fish stocks are an urgent need and should be addressed by the multilateral organizations created for the Amazonian sustainable development.     

An evaluation of systems for the integrated assessment of capture fisheries

Integrated fishery assessments are intended to take an integrated and wholistic view of fisheries management, to provide comprehensive systems-based evaluations of the sustainability of individual fisheries and their products. Using guidance derived from decision theory and management science, we develop 18 criteria to evaluate the likely effectiveness of nine integrated fishery assessment systems. The assessment systems do not consistently consider four key criteria: the socio-economic impacts of fisheries, the provision of food security, the local relevance of the assessment to the fishery under assessment, and the independent peer review of assessment outcomes. Other important areas of weakness include the lack of appropriate consultation processes relating to both the design of the assessment system and the outcomes of fishery assessments, and limitations in the quality of data and information used in assessments. Improvements will be needed in these areas across all the systems we evaluated if fishers, consumers, managers and other stakeholders are to be provided with consistently reliable assessment outcomes, and an assurance of the sustainability of capture fisheries.     

Fish wars: Conflict and collaboration in fisheries management in Southeast Asia

As a result of declining and overfished small-scale nearshore fisheries in Southeast Asia, there are increasing conflicts and social tensions between and among different user groups, leading to coastal “fish wars”. A challenge facing fishers, resource managers and national decision makers in the region is to identify more appropriate governance and public policy mechanisms to manage conflicts over fishery resources and to resolve them productively in the interests of both long-term sustainability and short-term economic feasibility. A quantitative analysis undertaken in selected coastal communities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam with and without co-management indicate that co-management does lead to reduced resource conflict levels. The analysis has also shown that when resource conflicts are reduced, food security improves.     

Optimising fisheries management in relation to tuna catches in the western central Pacific Ocean: A review of research priorities and opportunities

Some of the most important development goals for the countries and territories of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) involve the sustainable management of their fisheries in light of environmental, economic and social uncertainties. The responses of fish populations to variability in the marine environment have implications for decision making processes associated with resource management. There is still considerable uncertainty in estimating the responses of tuna populations to short-to-medium-term variability and longer-term change in the oceanic environment. A workshop was organised to examine how advances in oceanography, fisheries science and fisheries economics could be applied to the tuna fisheries of the WCPO and in doing so identify research priorities to improve understanding relevant to progressing management. Research priorities identified included: (i) improved parameterisation of end to end ecosystem model components, processes and feedbacks through expanded biological observations and incorporation of higher resolution climate models; (ii) development of seasonal and inter-annual forecasting tools enabling management responses to short-term variability in tuna distributions and abundances; (iii) improved understanding of the population dynamics of and the energy transfer efficiencies between food web components; (iv) assessment of the optimal value of access rights and overall fishery value under multiple scenarios of tuna distribution and abundance and influences on decision making by fisheries managers and fleets and (v) development of management strategy evaluation frameworks for utilisation in the implementing and testing of fishery management procedures and to help prioritise research directions and investment. Issues discussed and research priorities identified during the workshop have synergies with other internationally managed fisheries and therefore are applicable to many other fisheries.     

Marine conservation policy in Seychelles: Current constraints and prospects for improvement

The marine assets of Seychelles are fundamental to the national economy through generating income derived from tourism and fisheries. Marine management institutions and policies have undergone radical changes since 2008, reflecting a number of drivers and initiatives at international and national levels. Through using the example of Curieuse Marine National Park in the inner Seychelles, we demonstrate how these are affecting marine conservation with respect to coastal development, governance of marine protected areas and livelihood security within resource-dependent communities. These issues are of significance with respect to the current and future viability of marine conservation and resource management in Seychelles. Potential mitigating strategies are suggested which could lead to more effective governance and conservation of marine protected areas in Seychelles and similar small island developing states.