Sustainable Livelihoods Approach in tropical coastal and marine social–ecological systems: A review

Tropical coastal and marine social–ecological systems (CM-SESs) differ from other social–ecological systems through the higher degree of risk and uncertainty associated with coastal and marine resource extraction, the dynamic nature of aquatic and human resources, and often unclear tenure. CM-SES resource management and poverty-alleviation strategies must be adaptive and holistic. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) provides a framework for understanding and guiding policy-making in CM-SES. Case studies from the past 10 years analyze tropical coastal and marine-resource dependent livelihoods and/or to evaluate current CM-SES management using the SLA. These studies have shown that, despite the rounded and inclusive approach of projects such as the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme, key challenges for researchers and practitioners remain including rights and access allocation, corruption, lack of local financial, intellectual and innovative capacity and centralized governance. Whilst the SLA may increase understanding of local-level dynamics within CM-SES, more consultation at interdisciplinary frontiers is needed in order to formulate practical solutions to the core problems of tropical CM-SES management.     

Migration,resource management and global change: Experiences from fishing communities in West and Central Africa

Migration constitutes one of the strategies that fishing communities often use in order to secure their livelihoods. This paper analyses the patterns of migration in West and Central Africa based on case studies from selected countries. It attempts to shed light on migration flows and the reasons behind mobility, and what the main challenges are with regard to integration of migrants in local communities. Migration in the light of global change is discussed as well as how the interests of residents and migrants can best be accommodated for mutual benefit in the context of resource management and poverty reduction. The experience of the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme on migrants and co-management is referred to and the need for inclusive governance and social development approaches emphasised.     

The role of small-scale fisheries management in the poverty reduction strategies in the Western Indian Ocean region

Combating poverty is high on the agenda of the international community and the governments of the Western Indian Ocean region. The region has very rich marine resources and the fisheries sector makes an important contribution both to national economies and to the livelihoods of the poorest sectors of society. This paper considers the linkages between fisheries management, livelihoods and poverty reduction and the way these have been incorporated in the poverty reduction strategy (PRS) approach being implemented in the region. It concludes that the sector has not always been adequately addressed in the poverty reduction strategy plans. Promotion of the importance of the sector for poverty reduction is important in order that the sector receives the appropriate recognition and budgetary support and is subject to appropriate interventions focused on alleviating poverty. Suggestions are made about how the profile of fisheries can be raised within the PRS process.     

Issues at the fore in the land of Magnuson and Stevens: A summary of the 14th Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries

The Magnuson–Stevens Act is the United States׳ premier law governing fisheries conservation and management. Congress has revisited the Act multiple times since its inception in 1976—most recently in 1996 with the Sustainable Fisheries Act and in 2006 with the Magnuson Stevens Act—and is currently in the process of reauthorizing the Act. The University of Washington focused the 14th annual Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries on issues surrounding reauthorization. The symposium featured a diversity of stakeholders, including fisheries scientists, managers, policy analysts, students, non-governmental organizations, Tribes, and industry. The symposium explored the Act׳s history, means of ending overfishing and ensuring accountability, lessons from U.S. West Coast and North Pacific fisheries, and challenges and solutions to ecosystem-based fisheries management.     

When fisheries influence national policy-making: an analysis of the national development strategies of major fish-producing nations in the developing world

This paper assesses the extent to which the importance of a country's fisheries sector is reflected in its national development plan/poverty reduction strategy paper. We hypothesize that those countries in which the sector plays an integral role in enhancing trade and food security are most likely to effectively incorporate fisheries in their development plans. This is examined through the systematic assessment of the contents of such plans. We find that while five countries offer a compelling case regarding mainstreaming, only two have significantly done so. Reasons are suggested and areas for future research highlighted.     

Confronting coastal poverty: Building sustainable coastal livelihoods in South Africa

This is the second of two articles exploring coastal management in South Africa. It focuses on the adoption of the Sustainable Livelihoods approach that has underpinned recent policy implementation efforts. This approach complements prevailing coastal management thinking and practice by focusing attention on the strategies that poor people use to access coastal resources, mediated by governance institutions and social relations, in the pursuit of desired livelihood outcomes. South Africa's efforts to adopt this approach help to better understand coastal livelihood opportunities and challenges, identify priority interventions for improving livelihood prospects, and reveal imperatives for building sustainable coastal livelihoods.     

The hard choices of sustainability

Sustainable fisheries are the main objective of Norwegian fisheries management. Despite powerful management tools, sustainability in the fisheries sector is not an easy task. There is no formal definition of the concept, and operationalization is vague. In recent years, private actors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have increased their impact on defining sustainability in the fisheries, which has reduced the power of the traditional fisheries management to determine its content. The lack of a clear strategy for fisheries management to increase sustainability makes it timely to address three research questions: (i) what is meant by “sustainable fisheries”, (ii) to what extent has the institutionalization of the Norwegian fisheries management channeled the sustainability concept towards specific trajectories, and (iii) what are the options and hard choices available to increase sustainability in the Norwegian fisheries in the future? These questions are investigated in this article.     

The livelihoods approach and management of small-scale fisheries

An approach to poverty reduction in low-income countries known as the ‘sustainable livelihoods approach’ is applied to understanding the strategies of artisanal fisherfolk confronted by fluctuating fisheries resources. The livelihood approach is explained, and the insights it provides into conventional fisheries management policies in developing countries are explored. It is argued that both state-led management and some of the newer, community or territorial use-rights approaches, if predicated on an incomplete understanding of livelihoods, can result in management directives incompatible with both resource conservation and the social and economic goals of management.     

Women and fisheries: Contribution to food security and local economies

The substantial role of women in fisheries is overlooked in management and policy. Fortunately, it is gaining recognition despite a lack of quantitative data describing the scale of participation and contribution. This work summarizes existing knowledge on women's participation in marine fisheries globally, and estimates their contribution in the Pacific. While women's role varies between geographic regions, in the Pacific, women account for 56% of annual small-scale catches, and resulting in an economic impact of 363 million USD (total revenue: 110 million USD). Recognizing and quantifying the role of women in fisheries has profound implications for management, poverty alleviation and development policy.     

The management of the blue whiting fishery as complex social-ecological system: The Galician case

In Europe, 88% of fish stocks are being fished beyond Maximum Sustainable Yield and 30% of stocks are outside of biological limits. The blue whiting fishery is also following a consistent trend of a declining, and the EU recently adopted a 93% quota decrease for this species. Despite the abundant literature related to genetic aspects of population structure of aquatic resources, few studies have specifically addressed the link between fisheries management and population genetics. Given potential differences in the behavior of different subpopulations, population genetics has great relevance in the correct interpretation of the evolution of stocks. Ignoring the congruence of spatial scales between the population structure of fish species and management units can result in reduced productivity and local reduction of populations.     

A framework for the analysis of sustainability indicator systems in fisheries

The development of sustainability indicator systems (SIS) has been a response to practically apply and interpret ecosystem-based and precautionary approaches to fisheries management. Fisheries- based indicator systems have been characterised by recognition of their utility, but hampered by a lack of data, clear roles and responsibilities and an uneven distribution of implementation across governance jurisdictions. This paper explores a policy-based holistic model of an indicator system consisting of inputs, core structures and outputs and uses this as the basis of an assessment framework. The framework is applied to two recent reporting systems: the Australian government's Commonwealth Sustainable Fisheries Assessments and the Marine Stewardship Council initiative.     

Fishers’ opinions on marketization of property rights and the quota system in France

After many years of Common Fisheries Policies in the European Union, 88% of stocks are still being fished beyond their Maximum Sustainable Yield. While several Member States and the European Commission are moving toward Individual Transferable Quotas as a solution, France has declared its opposition to such marketization of fishing access rights and a national law has classified fisheries resources as a collective heritage. This paper discusses the evolution of the French system, principally its distribution of access rights by the Producer Organizations instead of the market. However, the Producer Organizations, which are more linked to the industrial fleet organizations, have not always modified their sharing formulae to include small-scale fisheries, resulting in a demand for more transparency and equity.     

Punishment and compliance: Exploring scenarios to improve the legitimacy of small-scale fisheries management rules on the Brazilian coast

This study investigated the effects of legal and societal punishment on fishermen's compliance behaviour, according to fishermen's age and level of dependency on fisheries, through the use of interviews and scenarios. Ninety-five fishermen living in a coastal park (Ponta do Tubarão Sustainable Development Reserve) in the Brazilian northeast, where controlled exploitation of natural resources is allowed, took part in this study. The results showed that age alone would not affect compliance, regardless of the level of enforcement. However, it was noticed that the fishermen who claimed to depend on the money provided by fisheries, regardless of their age, were more likely to say that they would not comply, even if enforcement were stricter. The scenario analysis showed that increased monitoring and punishment (including societal pressure) could enhance compliance, especially among younger fishermen, who claimed not to depend solely on fisheries. Therefore, fisheries management should also consider differences in social groups, and not focus solely on the enforcement and punishment mechanisms, assuring that livelihood options that consider different social needs are provided.     

Integrated coastal zone management in the Patos Lagoon estuary: perspectives in context of developing country

Located at the southern Brazilian coast, the Patos Lagoon estuary is bordered by the cities of São José do Norte and Rio Grande, which depend on a series of economic sectors associated with the nearby presence of the estuary and ocean, such as estuarine shrimp fisheries, small-scale ocean fisheries, tourism, port activities and associated industrial activities. Despite its environmental and socioeconomic importance, the Patos Lagoon estuary has suffered severe environmental disturbances mainly over the last three decades. This ongoing trend makes it a priority to develop an Integrated Coastal Management Plan for this area. Recent studies have demonstrated the environmental degradation of several coastal habitats, such as dunes, embayments and salt marshes. Most fisheries have experienced a marked decline, leading to a serious social crisis that has affected approximately 50,000 people directly or indirectly involved in the traditional activity. The growing poverty of small farmers and fishermen has placed increasing demands on local governments, which are struggling to manage conflicts between traditional and non-traditional sectors. This paper describes the objectives, criterions and expected results of an initiative for an ICZM program to be implemented in the estuary, as well as the main difficulties in a context of developing country.     

Contextual factors influencing sustainable fisheries in Mexico

Sustainable fisheries take into consideration that managed fisheries ecosystems shift over time in response to evolving environmental as well as market and political factors. These contextual forces are especially valuable in understanding developing countries such as Mexico, where the unconsolidated fisheries administration faces productive marine ecosystems but unsustainable fisheries. To recognize the issues that have inhibited the consolidation of a regulatory system for sustainable fisheries, a contextual factor analysis was applied to the co-development of two current policies in the Mexican fishery regime: fisheries and environmental policies. Six historical phases have been identified in which there are few long periods of stability and frequent short periods of radical change that alternate between stable and adverse contextual situations. These short and contrasting contextual situations cause a kind of tug-of-war in Mexican fisheries policy-making. On the one hand, domestic economic, scientific, and technological forces seem to slowly lead toward the consolidation of sustainable fisheries; on the other hand, domestic policies drift from one position to another at other timing than the international fisheries and environmental policies. Although recent crises seem to highlight new periods of radical change in Mexico, they also provide an opportunity to adopt new structural plans to consolidate domestic forces as a basis for long-term strategies.     

The impact of mean dynamic topography on a sea-level anomaly assimilation in the South China Sea based on an eddy-resolving model

The sea-level anomaly (SLA) from a satellite altimeter has a high accuracy and can be used to improve ocean state estimation by assimilation techniques. However, the lack of an accurate mean dynamic topography (MDT) is still a bothersome issue in an ocean data assimilation. The previous studies showed that the errors in MDT have significant impacts on assimilation results, especially on the time-mean components of ocean states and on the time variant parts of states via nonlinear ocean dynamics. The temporal-spatial differences of three MDTs and their impacts on the SLA analysis are focused on in the South China Sea (SCS). The theoretical analysis shows that even for linear models, the errors in MDT have impacts on the SLA analysis using a sequential data assimilation scheme. Assimilation experiments, based on EnOI scheme and HYCOM, with three MDTs from July 2003 to June 2004 also show that the SLA assimilation is very sensitive to the choice of different MDTs in the SCS with obvious differences between the experimental results and observations in the centre of the SCS and in the vicinity of the Philippine Islands. A new MDT for assimilation of SLA data in the SCS was proposed. The results from the assimilation experiment with this new MDT show a marked reduction (increase) in the RMSEs (correlation coefficient) between the experimental and observed SLA. Furthermore, the subsurface temperature field is also improved with this new MDT in the SCS.     

Management of the commons for biodiversity: lessons from the North Pacific

The North Pacific has the world's largest groundfish fisheries, with a value in excess of $1 billion annually. The North Pacific also is home to the largest population of Steller sea lions (SSL), an ancient species that is now endangered. Decline of the western stock of SSL in the 1970–1990s coincided with the US nationalization and exponential growth in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands groundfish fishery.The article treats five aspects of the competition between the fishery and protection of the endangered species. First, we analyze competition of interests in the use, management, and preservation of the North Pacific commons, including offshore and near-shore fisheries, environmental organizations, governments (federal, state, and local), and the scientific community. Second, the article compares and contrasts provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Magnuson–Stevens Act (as amended in 1996 by the Sustainable Fisheries Act).Third, we examine the regulatory environment with a focus on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its relationship to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. We illustrate how NMFS establishes fishery management plans and the methods, such as crafting biological opinions and environmental-impact-statements, it uses to resolve conflicts. Fourth, we investigate how the dual pressures on the agency—to increase fisheries production for the benefit of the industry and to preserve endangered marine species—have affected its culture (behavioral norms and operational codes). Then, the article explains agency changes in terms of crises, competition among affected interests, and development of new scientific knowledge.The article concludes by drawing lessons from the SSL controversy in the North Pacific which may pertain to national and global biodiversity conflicts. These concern the role of law in biodiversity protection, the role of science, and agency capacity for change.     

Policy,legal and institutional reforms for public–private partnerships needed to sustain large marine ecosystems of East Asia

The legacy of overfishing, destruction of coastal habitats, and accelerated pollution loading has dramatically reduced the biomass and diversity of marine waters in East Asia. Coasts can no longer support the numbers of people migrating to them, thus risking future economic benefits and social stability. Some countries are adopting needed reforms while, in others, less priority is given to reforms. National budgets for the environment, as well as international financial flows for environmental sustainability, remain disappointing. In the water sector alone, a global shortfall of US$100 billion annually will frustrate the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The paper argues that reforms are essential in the North and the South in order to reverse the gloomy outlook for East Asia, including global trade reforms and reduction of agricultural/fisheries subsidies in the North. Reforms to facilitate creation of public–private partnerships and their international support may be the only viable options for improving water service delivery, sewage/industrial effluent treatment, fisheries, and maritime transport to reduce impacts on coastal and marine waters to meet MDGs. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has supported a series of projects since 1991, totaling US$657 million for East Asia, with an emphasis on practical application of integrated coastal management for the large marine ecosystems. Among reforms identified to mobilize the private sector are revolving funds, reinsurance facilities, sub-sovereign lending, risk mitigation, partnerships, and corporate responsibility. GEF advocated these reforms in the run-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development and is supporting a new generation of projects for countries desiring to pursue them.     

From adoption to implementation? An academic perspective on Sustainable Fisheries Management in a developing country

Despite the fact that Sustainable Fisheries Management (SFM) has long been proposed internationally, it remains controversial. Practical and successful applications are scarce, especially in developing countries with a recent history of massive overfishing, such as Mexico. Although SFM has been adopted at the highest level of the Mexican legal framework during the last two decades, its successful implementation still faces a series of complex challenges. At present, important changes in the Mexican political regime are at a breaking point, motivating the academic discussion about the national implications of adopting SFM approaches. Through the analysis of a series of deep interviews of key actors, combined with published material, the article illustrates how the fast-track adoption of SFM approaches has fared in a national fisheries context, the current situation being largely dysfunctional with regard to the challenges of SFM. A complicated mixture between unbeaten management and academic vestiges caused the present circumstances of an enhanced but limited fisheries system. The article proposes academic initiatives required to improve the implementation of SFM in Mexico based on an enhanced understanding of domestic historic conditions and challenges.