ICLARM-The World Fish Center’s Experience with Social Research on Governance and Collective Action in Aquatic Resources (original) (raw)

The community: a missing link of fisheries management

Marine Policy, 2000

Fisheries management, as it is currently done in most countries, ignores the community level. Instead, it is almost exclusively based on a relationship between a government agency and individual users. This paper calls for a stronger emphasis on the roles that communities can play in "sheries management. E!ective resource management is a necessary condition for the viability of "sheries communities, but I argue that viable communities are also an important contribution to the preservation of healthy "sh stocks. Thus, before one can hope to rebuild "sh stocks, one must start to rebuild communities; one cannot succeed without the other. The paper also o!ers some re#ections on solutions and strategies, in particular on co-management as a potential community-building institution and how communities can play a supportive role in "sheries co-management.

Community-based natural resource management: governing the commons

Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) focuses on the collective management of ecosystems to promote human well-being and aims to devolve authority for ecosystem management to the local (community) level. CBNRM therefore requires strong investments in capacity development of local institutions and governance structures. CBNRM has come under strong criticism for its failures to deliver real benefits to communities. In this paper we explore the reasons for the frequent failure of CBNRM. We postulate that good governance buffers CBNRM against unexpected change, notably conflicts, especially in the early stages when income generation, infrastructure development and capacity development have not yet taken place. We assess the key characteristics of CBNRM governance systems that could perform this buffering function, using case study examples from Macubeni, Nqabara, Makuleke and Richtersveld to support our propositions. In our case studies, 11 strategies have been used to increase the incidence of success of CBNRM: understand and describe the social-ecological system; establish and communicate a clear vision; build on local organizations; plan ahead; create rules for resource use and enforce them; communicate the vision, plan and rules; develop management capacity; finance the initial stages of the initiative; work within available legal frameworks; monitor and learn all the time; and create lasting incentives. Despite these strategies there are, however, a number of obstinate implementation challenges, related to governance shortcomings and external factors which management cannot control. We therefore propose seven additional strategies to promote good governance in CBNRM: 1. Develop knowledge networks that draw on the experience and wisdom of a wide range of key individuals. 2. Establish formalised decision-making structures (e.g. multi-level project steering committees) with clear constitutions and codes of conduct. 3. Clearly define and legitimise conflict resolution procedures. 4. Ensure acceptance of the governance structure by community members. 5. Obtain formal commitment to well-defined roles and responsibilities by key individuals. 6. Establish tangible incentives to key individuals for meeting their commitments.

Social theory and fisheries co-management

Marine Policy, 1998

Co-management is a tool of fisheries management that has received much attention in recent years. Although there are great hopes about what it may accomplish, there are also serious doubts, questions and criticisms regarding its general applicability. We believe that many of these concams are valid ones. However, many of the negative predictions reflect overly narrow perspectives on the role and nature of institutions. Other, no less valid, presuppositions lead to more optimistic hypotheses concerning the outcomes of co-management arrangements. The institutional problems associated with comanagement have been analyzed from the perspective of rational choice. We offer another perspective by analyzing these problems from the standpoint of how institutions are embedded in human community.

An Assessment of Co-Management Arrangements Developed by the Community Based Fisheries Management Project in Bangladesh

2004

The Community-based Fisheries Management (CBFM) Project has been working in 10 rivers, three open floodplain wetlands (beels) and six more closed permanent lakes (beels and baors) in Bangladesh. The Department of Fisheries ensured access to the beels for fishers groups organized by five NGOs. In the closed beels a set of fishers pay government revenue for the fishing rights and only those fishers are represented in the local management committees. These organized fishers have stocked closed beels. Representation of different user-villages and stakeholders was an issue. Professional fishers, subsistence fishers, fish traders and processors, investors in fish aggregating devices, floodplain farmers, and local government are all stakeholders. They were represented in or advised the committees in more open systems, which have set aside sanctuaries and observed closed seasons when fish breed. Strong competition for these resources, and the benefits (income and resource rent) that flow fr...

Patterns of Co-operation in Community Based Fishery Management: A Sociological Study on the People of Hail Haor

Asian Social Science, 2012

To maintain the ecological balance of wetland and to ensure food security government of Bangladesh has taken community based resources or fishery management approach. Cooperation is one of the major components of it. This paper measures the patterns of cooperation in community based fishery management system and its impact on people's life. Descriptive design has been followed in this study. Sample has been selected through simple random sampling technique as well as social survey technique has been applied to collect data. Patterns of co-operations and the indicators of the impacts are measured through the Likert Scale and Semantic Differential Scale. It's found that the negative cooperation is existed in the study area and most of the respondent's attitudes are also negative about the effect of community based management system.

Embedding co-management: community-based fisheries resource management regime in Lake Victoria, Tanzania

This paper discusses fisheries management reforms through involving local level institutions (LLFI). It is based on studies which were undertaken on Tanzania's Lake Victoria fishery where LLFIs were established through the formation of Local enforcement Units, later named Beach Management Units (BMU), between 1998 and 2002. The paper takes the view that the overfishing problems that confront Tanzania's fisheries management authorities are best understood from a social science perspective. The argument is that most communities' values and institutions are embedded in their societies. The same is however, not true for externally originated management tools and systems as is the case with BMUs. This paper shows that the BMUs established between 1998 and 2002, were not sufficiently grounded in their socio-cultural environment and this led them to be unsustainable and ineffective. The paper demonstrates that this mismatch by examining the different historical and social contexts in which livelihoods such as fishing emerged and was carried out. These social contexts generated social values that explain the individual behaviour of community members. It is such values that communities always strive to maintain in any activity including fishing. Thus, when confronted with situations that threaten these values, communities strategize or negotiate ways to cope. The coping strategies of two communities riparian to the lake are discussed. The paper therefore proposes a framework for making these units 'fit' local conditions in order to make them effective and sustainable so as to reform fisheries management.

Institutionalizing Cooperation and Sustaining Collective Action: The Case of the Binulasan Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Association

Environment and Ecology Research, 2023

Our study describes the process by which mangrove rehabilitation and sustainable management was and continues to be institutionalized in Binulasan through the development and continued operation of the people’s organization BFARMA. We co-constructed a highly contextualized narrative of this institutionalization process, highlighting participant views, which we elicited through unstructured, informal interview-conversations. We found that in order to sustain collective action in mangrove sustainable management and ensure BFARMA’s effectiveness and resilience as a grassroots NRM institution, it should: (a) improve its ability to adapt to future shocks and innovate by promoting the values emphasized and elevated during the initial stages of community mobilization and developing the capacities of its members; (b) contribute towards rural poverty alleviation objectives by facilitating local livelihood development so that the undertaking remains attractive to locals; and (c) continue to strengthen its capacity to influence as an NRM agent by working in close partnership with the LGU and by encouraging the participation of the larger community. Our study contributes to existing work that aims to better understand the issues that surround and affect the effectiveness and resilience of NRM institutions at the grassroots level.