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.     

Is there any hope for fisheries management?

Fisheries is not the only discipline where models have been used in attempts to fine tune an aspect of the economy. Such fine-tuning can prove ineffective because of the uncertainties in the scientific underpinnings of the models and because of the omission of critical elements. In fisheries, the biological goal is to set allowable catches so that the harvest is not so large that it endangers the future health of the fish stock while it is not so low as to waste food, while the economic goal is to maximize the net economic rent generated by the fishery. It has long been recognized that the science underlying the setting of the total allowable catch is often too uncertain to justify such fine tuning, and that attempts to achieve that delicate balance has helped lead to crises in fisheries. One solution is to abandon such marginalism in favor of seriously reducing current catches.     

近江牡蛎与太平洋牡蛎的同工酶鉴别

福建省罗源湾于上世纪80年代初先后引进来自日本、台湾和澳大利亚的太平洋牡蛎．该品种引进后不久就开始出现养殖品质退化的现象；对此，有人怀疑是与本地近江牡蛎杂交所致。本文通过同工酶分析，确认罗源湾太平洋牡蛎被测样品中不舍与近江牡蛎杂交的个体．苹果酸脱氢酶电泳可作为鉴定相关种群的技术手段．但是，本项调查结果也显示罗源湾太平洋牡蛎很可能不是纯系品种，培育纯化品系、加强种质管理对振兴福建牡蛎产业具有重要意义。