Community-based management of subsistence fisheries in Samoa

Much subsistence fishing in tropical regions is based in discrete communities which have a high level of marine awareness and some degree of control of adjacent waters. These factors provide an ideal basis on which to motivate communities to manage their own marine resources. A fisheries extension programme in Samoa encouraged each village community to define its key problems, discuss causes, propose solutions and take appropriate actions. Various village groups, including women's and untitled men's groups, provided information which was recorded (as problem/solution trees) on portable white-boards. The extension process culminated in a community-owned Fisheries Management Plan which listed the resource management and conservation undertakings of the community. Undertakings ranged from enforcing laws banning destructive fishing methods to protecting critical marine habitats. Within the first 2 years, the extension process commenced in 65 villages, of which 44 have produced Village Fisheries Management Plans to date. A large number (38) of these villages chose to establish community-owned Marine Protected Areas.