Local owner-based management of Finnish lake fisheries: social dimensions and power relations

Traditionally most inland water bodies in Finland were privately owned as an extension of land ownership. Statutory fishery associations are responsible for local decision-making on most lakes. Social dimensions have been tightly embedded in decision making by these associations. The local level of Finnish fisheries management has been subjected to a fundamental shift from locally based subsistence fishing and wide local participation in fisheries associations to a wide range of non-local recreational demands and decreasing participation. In this paper the functionality of local resource management in the Finnish context of private ownership of fishing waters is studied, with focus on the social significance of local decision-making and representation of user groups in the decision-making process. The main material consists of personal thematic interviews with a range of fishermen, decision makers and other stakeholders in two lakes.     

Risk management for fisheries

Risk management methods provide means to address increasing complexity for successful fisheries management by systematically identifying and coping with risk. The objective of this study is to summarize risk management practices in use in fisheries and to present strategies that are not currently used but may be applicable. Available tools originate from a variety of disciplines and are as diverse as the risks they address, including algorithms to aid in making decisions with multiple stakeholders, reserves to buffer against economic or biological surprises, and insurance instruments to help fishermen cope with economic variability. Techniques are organized in a two‐stage framework. In the first stage, risks are identified and analysed. Strategies presented in this category focus on decision analysis, including multicriteria decision‐making tools, and the related concept of risk assessment. Then in the treatment stage, identified risks can be transferred, avoided, or retained using tools such as the Precautionary Approach, portfolio management, financial contracts to manage price risk and horizontal integration. Published fishery applications are reviewed, and some empirical examples of risks and risk management using US fisheries data are presented.     

论地方渔民协会在我国海洋渔业可持续发展中的作用——来自海安老坝港镇捕捞协会的启示

近年来海洋渔业面临资源衰退、渔场减少、因渔民众多而监管成本高等问题，严重阻碍了我国海洋渔业经济的可持续发展。文章首先从交易成本的视觉对渔民协会在实现海洋渔业经济可持续发展中的作用进行了理论分析，然后以江苏海安县老坝港镇捕捞协会为对象，对理论推演的结论进行了实证检验。研究表明，老坝港捕捞渔民协会的成立，一方面能够在保证转业者福利不低于捕捞业的情况下，协助转业者寻找替代性就业机会，从而有利于降低捕捞业的劳动力人数，减轻对渔业资源的压力；另一方面能使政府在市场经济条件下提高管理效率、降低政府和渔民的交易成本，有利于促进海洋捕捞渔业的可持续发展。     

SOCIOECONOMIC INTERACTIONS OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE IN GREECE: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTH EVOIKOS GULF

The present study investigates the socioeconomic sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture in the South Evoikos Gulf. The results show poor labour mobility between fisheries and aquaculture. Internal geographical mobility, relatively high salaries and the relatively high educational level of the aquaculture workers contribute to the sustainability for the aquaculture sector. There is a high probability of young, low-educated individuals entering the fishing industry. Furthermore, earnings and professional training prevent people from exiting the fisheries sector, and this may act as a means towards fisheries' sustainability. Grants and subsidies do not seem to influence fishermen's decision to remain or exit the sector. On average more fishermen than aquaculture workers perceive that their profession is supported by the local community and tourist industry.     

Key principles of ecosystem‐based management: the fishermen's perspective

Despite the growing popularity of ecosystem‐based management (EBM) in national legislation and in research and institutional literature, there is often an implementation gap ‘on the ground’, impeding widespread adoption in fisheries. This gap reflects in part the differing understandings of EBM held by fishermen and by management institutions. To explore and seek to close this gap, the underlying principles of EBM considered priorities by fishermen were systematically compared with the priorities identified in the published literature. The fishermen's priorities were determined by asking Atlantic Canadian fishermen to identify the EBM principles they consider most important. Four priority principles were identified: Sustainability, Stakeholder Involvement, Develop Long‐Term Objectives and Use of All Forms of Knowledge. The latter two were not frequently noted as priorities in the literature, while some literature priorities were less commonly chosen by fishermen, indicating a significant difference in perspectives on EBM. The rationale for fishermen's choice of priorities was explored by analysing the fishery management issues they raised – many directly connected to the above four priorities. In addition, another principle, Commit to Principles of Equity, often arose as an implicit priority among fishermen. We suggest that success in implementation of EBM may depend on reconciling differing priorities among its underlying principles, and combining knowledge and expertise from fishermen with research and institutional sources. The comparative methodology used here, which could be replicated elsewhere, should lead to better recognition of local challenges in EBM implementation and encourage support for EBM, to further its contribution to sustainable fisheries.     

The behavioural dynamics of fishers: management implications

In pursuing their livelihood, fishers develop strategies when faced with changes in regulations and other fishery conditions. Changes involve each individual in a decision‐making process governed by his/her own goals or constraints. Despite this reality, the complex dynamics of fishing has usually been ignored in designing management initiatives, which has contributed to management failures in many parts of the world. Fishers have generally been treated as fixed elements, with no consideration of individual attitudes based on their operating scales (geographical, ecological, social and economic) and personal goals. We review existing research on the social, economic and behavioural dynamics of fishing to provide insight into fisher behaviour and its implications for fisheries management. Emphasis is placed on fisher perception, and how fishers develop dynamic fishing tactics and strategies as an adaptive response to changes in resource abundance, environmental conditions and market or regulatory constraints. We conclude that knowledge of these dynamics is essential for effective management, and we discuss how such information can be collected, analysed and integrated into fisheries assessment and management. Particular emphasis is placed on small‐scale fisheries, but some examples from industrial fleets are provided to highlight similar issues in different types of fisheries.     

渔业协会、渔村社区组织及其渔业资源管理功能

改革开放以来,随着渔业经济的快速发展,我国的渔业发展面一临着渔业资源严重枯竭、渔业监管困难、渔民收入增长幅度放缓等诸多问题。为此学术界在渔业资源管理方法上提出了许多意见,同时也存在着一些分歧。文章通过理论推演,结合文献数据,探讨了渔村社区组织与我国渔业协会的关系,分析了包括渔业协会在内的渔村社区组织对渔业资源管理的作用,通过对代表性渔业资源管理理论的利弊分析,剖析了渔民协会等渔村社区组织的渔业资源管理职能。同时指出由于渔业协会在资源管理中具有重要作用,但因其自身也存在着一定局限性,因此,培育渔业协会、完善其资源管理职能,实行基于渔业协会等渔村社区组织的合作管理也就成为我国加强渔业资源管理的一种制度选择。     

Dolphins and coastal fisheries within a marine protected area: mismatch between dolphin occurrence and reported depredation

• 1. Dolphins are often blamed for reducing fisheries catches and may be killed in retaliation. Depredation of fishing gear in coastal Mediterranean waters is normally caused by bottlenose dolphins. Economic impact, however, may be modest even within areas of reportedly acute conflict.
• 2. Boat surveys and interviews were conducted to investigate dolphin occurrence and interactions with fisheries within the 167 km² Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area (MPA) in southern Italy. Based on 69 interviews with fishermen using bottom‐set trammel and gill nets, there was reportedly a high occurrence of depredation by bottlenose dolphins. Depredation was reported by 92% of the fishermen operating in or near the MPA, and 67% of them claimed an economic cost in excess of €1000 per year, with a mean reported cost of €2561: a higher impact than in other Mediterranean studies.
• 3. According to local fishermen, dolphin occurrence and depredation peaked in spring and autumn, coincident with the study's surveys at sea. Dedicated visual surveys totalling 1255 km of effort, however, resulted in no encounters with cetaceans. Information from interviews and boat surveys was therefore contradictory, suggesting that reports of acute depredation do not imply a constant presence of dolphins within the MPA.
• 4. While depredation in the MPA might be caused by wide‐ranging dolphins or incursions occurring overnight, damage may well be overestimated or over‐reported. As local fishermen had previously benefited from subsidies, interviews made during this study could be perceived by some as an opportunity to influence future decision‐making regarding monetary compensation for the impact of depredation.
• 5. Evidence from interviews also indicated that species and factors other than dolphins were responsible for part of the damage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Reconciling traditional inland fisheries management and sustainability in industrialized countries, with emphasis on Europe

In northern industrialized countries, the inland fisheries sector has long been dominated by recreational fisheries, which normally exploit fish for leisure or subsistence and provide many (poorly investigated) benefits to society. Various factors constrain the development and existence of inland fisheries, such as local user conflicts, low social priority and inadequate research and funding. In many cases, however, degradation of the environment and loss of aquatic habitat are the predominant concerns for the sustainability of inland fisheries. The need for concerted effort to prevent and reduce environmental degradation, as well as conservation of freshwater fish and fisheries as renewable common pool resources or entities in their own right is the greatest challenge facing sustainable development of inland waters. In inland fisheries management, the declining quality of the aquatic environment coupled with long‐term inadequate and often inappropriate fisheries management has led to an emphasis on enhancement practices, such as stocking, to mitigate anthropogenic stress. However, this is not always the most appropriate management approach. Therefore, there is an urgent need to alter many traditional inland fisheries management practices and systems to focus on sustainable development. This paper reviews the literature regarding the inputs needed for sustainability of inland fisheries in industrialized countries. To understand better the problems facing sustainable inland fisheries management, the inland fisheries environment, its benefits, negative impacts and constraints, as well as historical management, paradigms, trends and current practices are described. Major philosophical shifts, challenges and promising integrated management approaches are envisaged in a holistic framework. The following are considered key elements for sustainable development of inland fisheries: communication, information dissemination, education, institutional restructuring, marketing outreach, management plans, decision analysis, socioeconomic evaluation and research into the human dimension, in addition to traditional biological and ecological sciences. If these inputs are integrated with traditional fisheries management practices, the prospects for sustainability in the inland fisheries will be enhanced.     

Remote sensing and geographical information systems: Their past, present and future use in global marine fisheries

Historically, the fishing community (e.g., fishermen, resource managers) has used remotely sensed products either in the form of direct Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) reception on a ship or FAX charts transmitted from land-based stations. Both these products have severe limitations within the context of near real-time support/management of an operational fishery. Moreover, relatively little use of geographical information systems (GIS) technologies has been made by either the fishing industry, fishery resource managers, or by the general oceanographic community. This latter omission is unfortunate because GIS has the potential to overcome two long-standing problems associated with satellite-directed fisheries: 1) the absence of information due to clouds; and 2) the general lack of support for nonpelagic fisheries. This report gives the background, motivation, and essential design elements for use of a combined remote sensing/geographical information system (RS/GIS) in an operational fishery and illustrates how a combined RS/GIS approach can be used to mitigate some of the traditional limitations in satellite-directed fisheries. Finally, an attempt is made to provide some possible directions this new technology may take during the 1990s.     

政府规制理论在我国近海渔业管理中应用的探讨

自由准入状态导致了渔业资源产权的不确定性, 过度投资和过度利用使得渔业资源过度消耗。要实现渔业资源的可持续发展就必须对渔业进行适当的规制。政府规制是指政府直接干预微观经济主体活动的一种行为方式, 可分为经济性规制和社会性规制。渔业规制关注的不仅仅是管理的合法性问题, 更多的是管理的最佳性问题, 即用最佳管理方式实现渔业的可持续性发展。随着现代社会政府与公民的二元对立观念不断减弱, 管理者与被管理者由对立转向合作, 传统的以(捕捞)许可为中心的渔业管理方式已经不适应现代渔业管理的发展, 有必要引进政府规制理论提升和改造命令控制式的渔业规制方式。本研究基于政府规制理论提出了“合作性治理”模式, 改变了“政府—渔民”两方博弈为多主体共同管理, 通过创设合理的产权制度、有效的激励性规制和成本效益分析方法建立起合作、共享机制以实现渔业管理的目的。     

Progress in designing and delivering effective fishing industry–science data collection in the UK

This study was undertaken to address the increasing need for a strategic approach to industry–science data collections in the face of reducing resources and growing need for evidence in fisheries management. The aim was to evaluate progress in the development of plans and procedures that can be employed to collect, record and use fishing industry knowledge and data in the evidence base for managing fisheries. This was achieved by reviewing industry‐led data initiatives already undertaken or ongoing within the United Kingdom to document how these projects have/are incorporating fishing industry data into the process of management decision‐making; canvassing stakeholder opinion on data gaps and whether these could be filled by data gathered by commercial fishing vessels; establishing what issues might prevent or stimulate commercial fishing vessels in collecting data when they have the opportunity; and describing guidance on a step‐by‐step process for gathering scientific information such that fishers are empowered to collect the right data, at the right times and in the right format for their fishery. Given recent advances in the collection, interpretation and application of fisheries‐dependent data, we compare progress made in the UK to other areas of the world. We conclude that there is considerable evidence of a paradigm shift from the conventional practice of scientists asking fishers to provide data for scientific analyses towards full engagement of key stakeholders in data collection.     

现代渔业大背景下渔业产权制度探析

现代渔业作为现代农业体系的重要组成部分,是当前渔业发展的主要方向。当前,我国现行的渔业管理模式与现代渔业管理的要求还有一定差距,影响了我国渔业可持续发展的进程。究其原因,渔业产权制度的缺失是诸多问题的根源所在。在现代渔业理念的指导下,探索渔业管理新模式,建立排他性的、明晰的、可转让的渔业产权制度,消除自由准入状态下渔民的竞争性捕捞心理,是保障渔业可持续发展的有效途径。     

关于改善我国海洋渔业统计制度的建议

可靠的渔业统计制度是渔业管理决策最重要的基础支撑,也是渔业监督管理的重要依据和手段。文章扼要地介绍了《联合国海洋法公约》等国际条约和文件对渔业统计的基本要求、有关国家和我国的渔业统计制度,指出了我国层层上报的全面渔业统计方式已不能适应当前渔业经济体制和管理需求、渔业统计指标体系不完整、难以全面反映渔业实际、统计监督和数据核实制度存在不足、渔业统计数据信息化滞后等问题。建议:(1)严格执行《渔业法》明确规定的捕捞日志制度;(2)规定渔获物只能在限定港口卸载,建立渔获物上报与统计监督制度;(3)逐步实行随船观察员制度;(4)完善立法,提供法律支撑和保障。     

It's about time: new beginnings and old good ideas in fisheries science

Views about aquatic resource management are changing, particulaly now that resource yields from world fisheries have been shown to be not only unsustainable, but steadily declining under conventional management practice. There is ample reason for re-examination, and more pragmatic definitions of what is meant by sustainability There have nearly always been clear, reasonable means for making appropriate decisions that would have safeguarded most of the ocean's living resources, hut in general greed and lack of societal will, as articulated it national governmental levels, have promoted the present resource deterioration. I also posit that the underlying science in support of sustainable fisheries decision-making has been responsible for a great proportion of this deterioration. Revitalization of fisheries science, indeed rehabilitating the affected fisheries, will he required to regain the losses in credibility of the agencies and of the underlying science. This will depend upon resumption of integrated environmental monitoring, more enlightened application of what is already known, and reconnection of the science to the several industries involved, i.e. fishing, processing and marketing. Management implemented at the market place may be one of the few remaining options to secure the sustainability of natural resources     

Reconciling sustainability,economic efficiency and equity in fisheries: the one that got away?

Concern about the global state of fisheries and fish resources has highlighted the three primary considerations in fisheries management: sustainable utilisation, economic efficiency and equity in access to resources. We appear to be failing in pursuit of all three goals. Living marine resources are particularly threatened by overfishing, leading to many of the world’s fish stocks being heavily, fully or over exploited. Similarly, the economic diagnosis is that costs of fishing exceeded the value of the world’s catch by about US$ 40 billion at the beginning of the decade. Statistics on equity are less available, but the necessary spread of limited access to fisheries frequently has the greatest impact on the small scale, traditional fisher. This paper considers the reasons underlying the general failure of fisheries management and the solutions that are being proposed. Factors contributing to the problems include high biological uncertainty, conflict between the constraint of sustainability and social and economic priorities, poorly defined objectives, and institutional failures related to access rights and participation in management by the users. These issues point to the real complexity of fisheries management. It is argued that this complexity can be abused by all interest groups to avoid responsibility and to suit their own objectives. It is suggested that there are eight simple principles controlling fisheries management that are generally well‐understood and, if properly considered in fisheries management systems, would lead to improved performances. Responsible management will, however, only be effective if there is a genuine desire to achieve the objectives. Fishing capacity, frequently reflecting dependency of users on fisheries resources, is commonly in excess of the sustainable production of the resources. Excess dependency can preclude the political will to consider alternative strategies and only once it has been overcome, probably requiring solutions borrowed from outside fisheries, is effective management likely to be considered seriously. Thereafter, responsible management requires setting unambiguous objectives and management measures in co‐operation with users and other interest groups. The agreed strategy must be included in legislation to ensure transparency and accountability and to constrain decision‐makers. The performance of the strategy must be monitored and revised as necessary.     

EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE-BASED FISHERIES IN VILLAGE RESERVOIRS OF SRI LANKA

In this paper, an attempt is made to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of a community that influence the development and management of culture-based fisheries in village reservoirs of Sri Lanka. Socioeconomic data were collected from 46 agricultural farming communities associated with 47 village reservoirs in Sri Lanka. Principal component analysis indicated that scores of the first principal component were positively influenced by socioeconomic characteristics that are favorable for making collective decisions. These included leadership of the officers, age of the group, percentage of active members of the group, percentage of kinship of the group, percentage of common interest of the group, and percentage of participation of the group. The size of the group had a negative effect on the first principal component. The principal component scores of communities were positively related to willingness to pay (P < 0.001). The communities with socioeconomic characteristics favoring collective decision making were in favor of culture-based fisheries. Homogeneity of group characteristics facilitated successful development of culture-based fisheries.     

Multispecies fisheries management and conservation: tactical applications using models of intermediate complexity

Stakeholders increasingly expect ecosystem assessments as part of advice on fisheries management. Quantitative models to support fisheries decision‐making may be either strategic (‘big picture’, direction‐setting and contextual) or tactical (focused on management actions on short timescales), with some strategic models informing the development of tactical models. We describe and review ‘Models of Intermediate Complexity for Ecosystem assessments’ (MICE) that have a tactical focus, including use as ecosystem assessment tools. MICE are context‐ and question‐driven and limit complexity by restricting the focus to those components of the ecosystem needed to address the main effects of the management question under consideration. Stakeholder participation and dialogue is an integral part of this process. MICE estimate parameters through fitting to data, use statistical diagnostic tools to evaluate model performance and account for a broad range of uncertainties. These models therefore address many of the impediments to greater use of ecosystem models in strategic and particularly tactical decision‐making for marine resource management and conservation. MICE are capable of producing outputs that could be used for tactical decision‐making, but our summary of existing models suggests this has not occurred in any meaningful way to date. We use a model of the pelagic ecosystem in the Coral Sea and a linked catchment and ocean model of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, to illustrate how MICE can be constructed. We summarize the major advantages of the approach, indicate opportunities for the development of further applications and identify the major challenges to broad adoption of the approach.     

渔业生态系统方法简述

考虑到生态系统状态对渔业的重要影响,渔业生态系统方法(Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries,EAF)把对生态的关注加入渔业管理框架中,并以生态系统管理和渔业管理2个理论为基础,扩展了传统渔业管理的框架:以生态系统健康与人类福利的依存关系为基础,关注多物种管理,均衡生态、人文和制度3个维度的目标,实现渔业的可持续发展。本研究介绍了EAF的由来、定义、基本原则以及功能要素,概述了EAF的实践基础和模型构建的技术路径,对比了EAF与EBFM的异同。虽然EAF的理论和实践仍处于完善和发展阶段,但确为渔业管理的发展方向,介绍EAF对促进我国渔业可持续发展具有重要意义。