River fisheries management in Bangladesh: Drawing lessons from Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) experiences

River fisheries in Bangladesh is characterized as “open-access” and the history of administrative and legislative measures bear “contradiction and dilemmas” in resource extraction. The 1950 Fisheries act, the proclamation of 1973 that restricted lease to the registered fisher cooperatives and the experimental New Fisheries Management Policy (NFMP) of 1986 could not contribute to devolve into any participatory institution to introduce sustainable fisheries management. Because of the persistent dilemma in government policy, continued increase in fishing pressure and other anthropogenic reasons, the River resources degraded substantially. Over the past ten years, the Department of Fisheries (DOF) in collaboration with NGOs implemented community based fisheries management (CBFM) approaches with the technical assistance from the WorldFish Center. The principal goal of the approaches was to provide access rights to the fishers through organizing poor fishers and the community to introduce sustainable fisheries management in beels, floodplains and River sections. The CBFM experiences suggest that management and institution building process in river management is complex, and require participation of all concerned stakeholders including local government institutions and administration. CBFM-2 river fisheries management developed a broad-based institutional framework that include community and local government along with the direct beneficiaries and resource users. A positive feature of such institutions is its ability to facilitate flow of information among agents, which is a key to maintain solidarity within and across groups. This paper draws lessons from the CBFM experiences in Bangladesh to manage river fisheries resources in Bangladesh.     

Korea's fisheries industry and government financial transfers

The Korean fisheries industry has long played a role as a national food industry with agriculture. Fisheries products supply about 39.2% of animal proteins that Korean people need. The industry, however, is facing great challenges including international arguments for reduction or abolition of fishery subsidies. Therefore, it is urgent for us to review the characteristics of fishery subsidies according to WTO, OECD, FAO and UNEP. This paper examines the status of Korean fishery industry, and to tackle the problems of the currently supported fishery policy funds, whose total amount in 1999 was more than 1 trillion Korean won with 77 fishery projects.     

Objectives of fisheries management: case studies from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark

The main objectives of fisheries management are generally similar throughout the world. These are often stated in policy documents such as the Common Fisheries Policy and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. However, at the local level often the key objectives of management are more detailed, characterised by both the overriding management structure and the status and type of fishery concerned. In this paper, we consider case study fisheries from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark to compare some of the various types of fisheries and fisheries management systems that exist in the European Union. From this, we define the key objectives for each management system.     

Determining the degree of 'small-scaleness' using fisheries in British Columbia as an example

Small-scale fisheries have been estimated to contribute up to 30% of the global landed value, which is caught by approximately 22 million fishers, some of which can be attributed to developed countries. Socio-economic analysis of small-scale fisheries often focuses on developing countries and fails to recognize the presence and contribution of small-scale fisheries in the developed world. Fisheries in British Columbia are diverse and often regarded as being industrialized and large-scale when analyzed in a global context. This study aims to demonstrate that features of small-scale fisheries are present within British Columbia's fleets. A list of re-occurring features of small-scale fisheries is curated from the literature to capture physical, economic and social features of small-scale fisheries. These commonly identified features of small-scale fisheries are applied to Aboriginal Food, Social and Ceremonial fisheries and all commercial fisheries in British Columbia are analyzed to determine the presence or absence of each small-scale fishery feature. The results of this research create a gradient of fisheries from smallest to largest scale. This approach determines that Aboriginal Food, Social and Ceremonial fisheries are the most small-scale, while the sablefish fishery is the largest scale. The qualitative nature of this framework creates an opportunity for any group of fisheries in the world to be compared.     

Development of an integrated fisheries co-management framework for new and emerging commercial fisheries in the Canadian Beaufort Sea

The Canadian Beaufort Sea is one of the last places on Earth that has not experienced large-scale commercial fisheries. The aboriginal people of the western Canadian Arctic, the Inuvialuit, have become increasingly concerned about the potential effects of large-scale commercial operations on key subsistence species of fish and marine mammals and the marine ecosystem upon which they depend. A 1984 comprehensive land settlement agreement (treaty) between Canada and the Inuvialuit established a co-management regime for limited aspects of fish and marine mammal resource management, and gave the Inuvialuit rights to subsistence fisheries and existing commercial fisheries but no preference for new commercial fisheries. The Fisheries Joint Management Committee (the fisheries co-management body), the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Inuvialuit Game Council have developed an integrated fisheries management framework agreement for the review and assessment of any proposed commercial fisheries within the Canadian Beaufort Sea. The agreement provides clarity and transparency for decision making and strengthens the protection of fish stocks. The development of the framework depended upon a history of cooperation between the parties and a bridging initiative by the Fisheries Joint Management Committee and an NGO that brought together the Inuvialuit and the government.     

Fleet communication to abate fisheries bycatch

Fleet communication systems report near real-time observations of bycatch hotspots to enable a fishery to operate as a coordinated “One Fleet” to substantially reduce fleet-wide capture of protected bycatch species. This benefits the bycatch species per se, reduces waste, and can provide economic benefits to industry by reducing risk of exceeding bycatch thresholds and causing future declines in target species catch levels. We describe case studies of fleet communication programs of the US North Atlantic longline swordfish fishery, US North Pacific and Alaska trawl fisheries, and US Alaska demersal longline fisheries, and identify alternative fleet communication program designs to reduce fisheries bycatch. Evidence supports the inference that these three fleet communication programs substantially reduced fisheries bycatch and provided economic benefits that greatly outweighed operational costs. Fleet communication may be appropriate in fisheries where there are strong economic incentives to reduce bycatch, interactions with bycatch species are rare events, adequate onboard observer coverage exists, and for large fleets, vessels are represented by a fishery association.     

Criticism from former director of fisheries

In an article published in Marine Policy a year ago, (Lynne and Brian Chatterton, ‘How much political compromise can fisheries management stand’, Vol 5, No 1, April 1981), it was argued that management of South Australian coastal fisheries reflected the political ideology of the government in power, rather than the biological and socioeconomic imperatives of the resource. In the first article below, A.M. Olsen, former Director of Fisheries, criticizes the Chattertons' conclusions, maintaining that fisheries should be managed by professionals not politicians and that many of Brian Chatterton's problems during his tenure as Minister of Fisheries were of his own making. In the Chattertons' response, they point out that by allocating management of the resource between various vested interests (including government bureaucracy) a minister is making a political decision. In the third article, R.D. Walkerden, a former Permanent Secretary to Fisheries Ministers in South Australia, offers an administrator's view of the controversy. Detailed and parochial as some of the points at issue appear, the debate provides an illuminating view of some of the ideological and organizational conflicts that can hinder the effective management of a coastal resource.     

Beyond fisheries management: The Phronetic dimension

This paper has two main sources of inspiration. Firstly, building on Flyvbjerg's “Making Social Science Matter”[Flyvbjerg B. Making social science matter: why social inquiry fails and how it can succeed again. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003], I argue that the contribution of the social sciences to fisheries resource management must essentially be “phronetic” (after Aristotle's phronesis, i.e. practical wisdom), in contrast to the “scientific” (Aristotle: episteme) contribution of the natural sciences. Secondly, inspired by the recent publication “Fish for Life: Interactive Governance for Fisheries” [Kooiman J, Jentoft S, Pullin R, Bavinck M, editors. Fish for life: interactive governance for fisheries. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; 2005], I hold that phronesis is basically what the notion of governance adds to management. Governance is the broader concept, inviting a more reflexive, deliberative and value-rational methodology than the instrumental, means-end oriented management concept. I claim that for interdisciplinarity to work in fisheries it is essential to recognize the fundamental methodological differences that exist between the social and natural sciences.     

Angling management organizations: integrating the recreational sector into fishery management

This paper examines ways to reduce conflicts and improve the sustainability and value of marine recreational fisheries by fully integrating the recreational sector into the management of fisheries. One possibility involves a novel approach, here called angling management organizations (AMOs), which combines three of the more pervasive and promising trends in fishery management worldwide—management devolution, strengthened harvest rights, and co-management. AMOs are community-based organizations that are designed to conform to seven basic principles of integrated fishery management, which are described below. AMOs are loosely related to rights-based producer organizations in commercial fisheries, and are expected to strengthen resource stewardship, reduce enforcement and monitoring costs, alleviate management conflicts, and produce greater long-term net economic benefits in recreational fisheries. The other organizational structures considered here, including the management status quo, do not conform to all seven principles and are not expected to be as effective as AMOs.     

Interdecadal variability of anchoveta abundance and overcapacity of the fishery in Peru

Paleontological and historical stock abundance estimates indicate that pelagic fish populations inhabiting upwelling ecosystems undergo large interdecadal variations in abundance with amplitudes equal to, if not larger than, the interannual variability. The interdecadal variability is characterized by periods of high and low abundance, termed “pseudo-cycles”, because of their irregular periodicity. Fisheries targeting small pelagic fish suffer from overall overcapitalization, like many other fisheries, but also from an additional overcapitalization problem: a phase displacement between rapid fish population decreases and a slower disinvestment which follows. This lag produces economic hardship.Here we document the fish:fishery relationship for the Peruvian anchoveta. Anchoveta pseudo-cycles of 20 to >100 years are observed, with the present stock abundance most likely located near upper part of the cycle. Fleet overcapacity expressed as the proportion of unused present capacity is estimated at 72% and processing overcapacity at 89%. A simple bio-economic model demonstrates the risks associated with the pseudo-periodicity in fish stock abundance in conjunction with fishery investment, open access, and overcapacity: a timing bomb for the fishing sector. The lag between disinvestment and decrease in fish abundance is quantified. A reduction of the fishing and processing capacity and measures to decrease the investment lag are recommended to limit the social, economical and political tensions that will result from the expected decrease in stock abundance. Finally, some management options to reduce these risks are discussed.     

Fishing strange data in national fisheries statistics of Greece

Fisheries statistics provided by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (HELSTAT) have been often criticized for unusual estimates in landings and fishing effort data and for limitations in the sampling methodology, although there is no study on the identification of these biased and misreporting estimates. In the present study the landings per species and fishing subarea, as well as the fishing effort data per fishing gear reported by HELSTAT were analysed over the period 1982–2010. The results showed abrupt changes of both the recorded species and species landings per subarea, spurious correlations of landings among different species groups and misreporting estimates in the number of fishing vessels per fishing gear. These might be likely attributed to: (a) differences of the HELSTAT administrative infrastructures at local scale, (b) changes in the sampling protocol followed by HELSTAT, (c) reporting faults made by HELSTAT, (d) fisheries restrictive measures at local basis, (e) other factors that increased the bias and the uncertainties of HELSTAT fisheries data and related to socio-economic (i.e. fuel price) and operational (i.e. spatial structure of the fisheries fleet) aspects and/or (f) to environmental changes that might possibly affected fisheries dynamics. The present study aims to the improvement of the effectiveness of the national fisheries statistics as pinpointed by Common Fisheries Policy in order to avoid imprecise and/or biased estimations about the state of the fisheries.     

Enacting and contesting neoliberalism in fisheries: The tragedy of commodifying lobster access rights in Southwest Nova Scotia

Atlantic Canadian fisheries policy exhibits a tension between competing objectives of economic efficiency, and of well-being and equity within coastal communities and small-scale fisheries. The struggle between different actors over these objectives has generated distinct forms of neoliberalism in different regions and fishing fleets. In the lobster fishery, the right to fish has been concentrated since limited-entry licensing policy was introduced in the 1980s. This paper examines actors and events at two scales, including Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 Advisory Committee meetings involving fishermen, representatives of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and other stakeholders, and broader scale strategies of the Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation (CIFHF). A Foucauldian perspective aids in understanding how fisheries governance is the product of struggles between the power and agency of individual fishermen, fishing organizations, processing companies, the DFO, the Minister of Fisheries and the courts. While many theorists view fisheries through the lens of the “tragedy of the commons”, alternative tragedies are developing in Atlantic Canadian fisheries. These include rising levels of debt, reduced earnings, vulnerability to financial volatility, loss of fishing rights within communities, and too much processor control.     

Unfinished business: Taiwan's experience with rights-based coastal fisheries management

This paper examines a case involving a mix of Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries, co-management and the competition for using coastal zones. In the 2000s, Taiwan's government initiated a remodeling of the fishery right system, which is a rights-based approach to fisheries management, as an attempt to address conflicts between fishers and developers regarding the use of coastal space and to put community-based co-management into practice. The paper particularly compares the system before and after 2000 and identifies areas of concern in the implementation of the remodeled system. The results show that the government's support for this system signifies progress in the right direction. However, concerns emerge, mostly involving fishers' low participation, fishermen's association's lack of technical skills and financial resources, and the division of management responsibility. The government is advised to play a more active role in dealing with these concerns. Finally, the paper reveals that the factor of competition for using coastal zones poses a challenge to co-management, and suggests a holistic view with integrated coastal management or marine spatial planning practices, for developing co-management under the fishery right system.     

Why ITQs on target species are inefficient at achieving ecosystem based fisheries management outcomes

The effectiveness of managing fisheries through the allocation of catch rights, including Individual Transferrable Quota's (ITQs), has been the subject of a number of recent reviews. Inspection of these reviews suggests that the effectiveness of ITQ and similar catch rights schemes in meeting single species sustainability objectives differs from their effectiveness in meeting broader Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management objectives, especially in terms of managing effects on associated and dependent species and habitats. This should not be a surprise, given the attributes of rights-based neoliberal market policy instruments, as discussed here.     

Flexible management of fishing rights and a sustainable fisheries industry in Europe

Although overexploitation of commercial fish stocks in European waters has been in the public debate now for more than 20 years, the European Union has so far failed to implement sustainable fisheries management. Millions in subsidies paid to the fishing industry have led to significant excess capacity in the fishing fleet. Various feeble attempts to stop overexploitation of marine resources have failed. The cause is that fishing policy is highly dominated by short-term socioeconomic interests. There is an urgent need for a new fisheries management system in Europe that supports reductions in the fishing fleet, increases responsibility among fishers and guarantees long-term conservation of natural marine resources.Transferable rights to fish have proved a reliable and effective means of creating incentives to conserve marine resources. By strengthening individual fishing rights under flexible quota management systems, the EU Member States could, within the Common Fisheries Policy, make a significant contribution to conserving fish stocks, to reducing excess capacity and to raising the profitability of the fisheries industry. A closer look at existing reservations against a flexible management system shows most of the objections to be overstated or capable of resolution.     

Mixed messages: Buying back Australia's fishing industry

This paper discusses the process and outcomes of a major buyback of commercial fishing concessions across all Australian Commonwealth-managed fisheries through 2006. It argues that the intent of the buyback program was ambiguous, the process was flawed, and the outcomes of doubtful benefit to fish or to fishermen. This case study directs attention to deeper issues that prevail in forms of managing people under the guise of a non-explicit ideology of “extol and control”.     

The elasmobranch fisheries of the Azores

In the Northeast Atlantic, elasmobranchs are a common bycatch in many fisheries, including demersal trawls, longlines, or gillnets and many countries do not have regulations or any control over the amount taken. In the Mid Atlantic, the Azores EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), small-scale fishing operations, artisanal and hook-and-line fishing methods are responsible for part of local total landed elasmobranch biomass, although some species are specifically focused and severely harvested by international large-scale fleets. This work provides a review and analysis of the commercial elasmobranch fisheries in the Azores EEZ, and its evolution over the last two decades, highlighting management priorities, taking into account the Northeast Atlantic elasmobranch fisheries status. In the Mid-Atlantic, elasmobranch fisheries mainly target 4 species, that are usually landed as bycatch: the tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) and the thornback ray (Raja clavata), captured mainly by local demersal artisanal fisheries, the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) captured by a more industrialised fleet, including those from foreign nations. Considering elasmobranchs life history traits and fishery history, caution is advised in the development of a management strategy focusing on these species, considering the Northeast Atlantic context and regional, local and national interests.     

Spatial management of small-scale fisheries on the west coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico

To understand small-scale fisheries in Mexico, the spatial and temporal distribution of the landed catch of several species was analyzed, including abalone, clams, snails, octopus, squids, lobsters, shrimps, blue crabs, sharks, rays and finfish along the 349 km of the Gulf of Ulloa coast. Data reported by fishers from 1998 to 2009 on catch volume and value per group of species and per fishing locality, together with the number of landing events, were used to define fishing zones and the relative importance of each fishery. Finfish turned out the primary fishery in the region, but the other fisheries showed relevant spatial changes that should be considered when establishing management goals and fishing regulations according to resource availability, fleet efficiency, processing capacity, commercialization of fishing products and profit distribution.     

FAO's statistic data and sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture: Comments on Pauly and Zeller (2017)

In a recent commentary, Pauly and Zeller disagreed with the Food and Agriculture Organization's interpretation of its global capture fishery production records, arguing that trends were distorted by unreliable statistics in some countries. They criticized FAO for not having used their “catch reconstructions” in the 2016 State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report and questioned the interpretation and significance of FAO's aquaculture production statistics. In this paper, we refute their claims and demonstrate that their critique is based on fundamental misunderstandings caused by mixing up statistical metrics and using simple normative explanations to interpret highly complex datasets. We explain how FAO maintains, curates and updates the only validated source of global fisheries landings, describe our capacity building projects and activities underpinning the annual updates for the over 231 different sources of fisheries data, and clarify such updates include dialogues with member countries to improve and revise present and historical records. FAO will continue to work closely with member states, IGOs, NGOs, academia and civil society, to further improve fishery and aquaculture databases, while calling on states to make renewed efforts to improve data quality. It also welcomes research efforts that contribute to the improvement of statistical data which are critical to the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture.