Neil L. Andrew

Estimates of movement and life-history parameters of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi): how useful are data from a cooperative tagging programme?

Tag—recapture data for kingfish obtained from a cooperative tagging programme were used to assess the usefulness of such information for estimating movement and life-history parameters. Numbers tagged and recaptured varied among fishing zones, seasons and years. Recapture rates varied among areas, fishers and sizes of fish. Small fish showed less movement than large fish, but few fish >1000 mm TL were tagged. The majority of fish were recaptured within 50 km of where they were tagged, although there was an indication that fish that were at large longer moved further. The maximum distance moved was 3000 km and the maximum time at liberty was 1742 days. Quantitative analyses of life-history parameters from data collected in cooperative tagging programmes are generally not possible because there are usually no estimates of fishing effort, tag-related mortality and tag loss. These are likely to vary not only along the coast, but also among taggers. Cooperative tagging programmes provide some useful biological data (e.g.movement from point x to point y , and growth), but dedicated tagging programmes may be needed for estimates of other life-history parameters (e.g.mortality) and of abundance.

Small-scale fisheries management : frameworks and approaches for the developing world

1. Underreported and Undervalued: Small-scale Fisheries in the Developing World 2. Approaches and Frameworks for Management and Research in Small-scale Fisheries 3. Diagnosis and the Management Constituency of Small-scale Fisheries 4. Human Rights and Fishery Rights in Small-scale Fisheries Management 5. Managing Overcapacity in Small-scale Fisheries 6. Adaptive Management in Small-scale Fisheries: A Practical Approach 7. Conditions for Successful Co-management: Lessons Learned in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and the wider Caribbean 8. Climate Change and Other External Drivers in Small-scale Fisheries: Practical Steps for Responding 9. Developing Markets for Small-scale Fisheries: Utilizing the Value Chain Approach 10. Communication 11. Small-scale Fisheries Compliance: Integrating Social Justice, Legitimacy and Deterrence 12. Poverty Reduction as a Means to Enhance Resilience of Small-scale Fisheries.The key conditions for the successful implementation and performance and the policy implications for fisheries and coastal co-management in South East Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Caribbean region are presented.

Contagious exploitation of marine resources

Global seafood sourcing networks are expanding to meet demand. To describe contemporary fishery expansion patterns, we analyzed the worldwide exploitation of sea cucumber (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) traded via Hong Kong for consumers in China. In just 15 years (1996–2011), the sea cucumber sourcing network expanded from 35 to 83 countries; sea cucumber fisheries serving the Chinese market now operate within countries cumulatively spanning over 90% of the worlds tropical coastlines. The emergence of such fisheries in nations where they were previously absent could not be explained either by their national governance capacity or by their distance from Hong Kong. Surging imports from these new fisheries have compensated for declines in long-standing fisheries elsewhere. The case of commercial sea cucumber trade for the Chinese market exemplifies a new global extraction phenomenon that we call contagious resource exploitation – a fast-moving system resembling a disease epidemic, where long-distance transp...

Livelihoods and Fisheries Governance in a Contemporary Pacific Island Setting

Inshore marine resources play an important role in the livelihoods of Pacific Island coastal communities. However, such reliance can be detrimental to inshore marine ecosystems. Understanding the livelihoods of coastal communities is important for devising relevant and effective fisheries management strategies. Semi-structured household interviews were conducted with householders in Langalanga Lagoon, Solomon Islands, to understand household livelihoods and resource governance in fishing-dependent communities. Households were engaged in a diverse range of livelihoods. Fishing, shell money production and gardening were the most important livelihoods. Proximity to an urban centre influenced how households accessed some livelihoods. Perceptions of management rules varied and different reasons were cited for why rules were broken, the most common reason being to meet livelihood needs. Current models of inshore small-scale fisheries management that are based on the notion of community-based resource management may not work in locations where customary management systems are weak and livelihoods are heavily reliant on marine resources. An important step for fisheries management in such locations should include elucidating community priorities through participatory development planning, taking into consideration livelihoods as well as governance and development aspirations.

Fisheries and poverty reduction

There is a somewhat pervasive belief in much of the fisheries literature (especially that relating to small-scale fisheries in the developing world) that fishers are among the ‘poorest of the poor’. The purpose of this review therefore is to review historic and contemporary research into fisher poverty. Our review commences by acknowledging the paucity of studies on the levels of (income) poverty within the sector and highlights the fact that, somewhat paradoxically, a growing number of studies are suggesting that average incomes for fishing households outstrip those recorded by non-fishing households in the same areas. Nevertheless, these findings must be qualified as poverty cannot be captured exclusively in income terms ‐ and social manifestations of poverty (low literacy levels, reduced access to health care, education, water and sanitation facilities) may be more acute within the fisheries sector. Equally, while fisher households may be more vulnerable (given their lifestyles/location) to exogenous shocks (such as tsunamis), the sector is not a homogenous one and factors such as technological change may also induce the impoverishment of certain subgroups of fishers over time. As a consequence, fisher households have derived a variety of coping mechanisms, mechanisms which (we argue) militate against considering ‘fishing’ as an activity in isolation from other facets of the household livelihood strategy. One response, as we note, to this has been the application of livelihoods analysis as a technique for assessing (and redressing) fisher poverty. Championed initially by the Sustainable Livelihoods Fisheries Programme (SFLP) operating in West Africa from 1999 to 2006, the technique has subsequently been deployed in a number of other regions/fisheries. Our review then moves on to assess how interventions within the fisheries sector can contribute to fisher poverty reduction. At the macroeconomic level, while, the emphasis historically has been on the sector’s contribution to domestic nutritional requirements and the goal of food security, more recent research has examined the prioritization of the sector within national development plans and poverty reduction strategies. At the microeconomic level, we provide two contrasting examples to show that, while poverty-reducing policy interventions are to be welcomed at the local level, the heterogeneity of the local environment militates against the prescription of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to poverty reduction. This theme is picked up in the concluding comments of the review, where directions for further research are also highlighted.

Human rights and fishery rights in small-scale fisheries management.

When the word ‘rights’ is used in fi sheries discussions, two very different ideas come to mind, depending on one’s perspective. First, from the perspective of the people and communities engaged in fi shing or otherwise dependent on the fi shery, there are human, social and economic rights that can be reinforced, or negatively impacted, by actions taken in the fi shery. Second, from the perspective of fi shery management, there are ‘fi shery rights’ that defi ne who can go fi shing and who can be involved in managing the fi shery. This form of rights arises in what is referred to as rights-based fi shery management (Neher et al., 1989), focusing on the rights (together with the responsibilities) held by individuals, communities, companies and/or governments specifi cally in relation to fi shery management. These two categories of rights have typically been treated separately, but there is now an emerging focus on linking human rights and fi shery rights (e.g. Civil Society Preparatory Workshop, 2008). This chapter seeks to expand upon and reinforce the links between them, in the context of small-scale fi sheries and their management. The following section introduces aspects of human rights and fi shery rights, and summarizes current thinking on the practical links between these in the context of small-scale fi sherfolk and fi shing communities. This is followed by a section with more detailed discussions of fi shery rights, including access rights, effort rights, harvest rights and management rights, as well as the particular importance of community fi shery rights. A range of implementation issues are then examined; these arise when existing rights are being recognized or when a new rights system is being put in place, and cover questions of who can receive rights, how long the rights last, whether they can be transferred and how to choose among specifi c forms of rights. Finally, a set of conclusions is presented, along with potential directions forward in reinforcing or creating rights frameworks that provide better integration and balance than in many past approaches.

The Coral Triangle Atlas: An Integrated Online Spatial Database System for Improving Coral Reef Management

In this paper we describe the construction of an online GIS database system, hosted by WorldFish, which stores bio-physical, ecological and socio-economic data for the ‘Coral Triangle Area’ in South-east Asia and the Pacific. The database has been built in partnership with all six (Timor-Leste, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea) of the Coral Triangle countries, and represents a valuable source of information for natural resource managers at the regional scale. Its utility is demonstrated using biophysical data, data summarising marine habitats, and data describing the extent of marine protected areas in the region.

Vulnerability and adaptation of African rural populations to hydro-climate change: experience from fishing communities in the Inner Niger Delta (Mali)

In this paper we examine ways Sahelian floodplain fishers have adapted to the strong environmental variations that have affected the region in the last two decades. We analyse their vulnerability and adaptive capacity in the face of expected changes in rainfall combined with the predicted effects of dam construction. Data from the Inner Niger Delta in Mali were used to show that fishers were highly sensitive to past and recent variations in the hydro-climatic conditions. Moreover, it appears their traditional livelihood strategies, although diversified, sophisticated and well suited to historical conditions, offer a limited set of options to adapt to increased environmental constraints. For fish-dependent households that have adopted a mixed set of activities through farming, the high seasonality and constraints characterizing both their main activities (fishing and farming) does not allow switching between activities. For those households that undertake seasonal fishing migrations, there is little opportunity to modify migration routes or find new settlements sites inside the delta because of the high population density in this area. In sum, although the adoption of diversified and spatially discrete patterns in livelihood activities is often presented as a strategy to reduce vulnerability, such a strategy does not appear sufficient to allow fishers of the delta to successfully face the increasing constraints associated with the changes in hydro-climatic conditions. In such a context, fishing communities will be driven towards more drastic strategies of adaptation and/or coping such as switching to new activities based on agricultural innovations or emigration from the delta. Both strategies present many hazards, particularly in the absence of supportive public policy.

Diagnosis and the management constituency of small-scale fisheries

Diagnosis and adaptive management can help improve the ability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the developing world to better cope with and adapt to both external drivers and internal sources of uncertainty. This paper presents a framework for diagnosis and adaptive management and discusses ways of implementing the first two phases of learning: diagnosis and mobilising an appropriate management constituency. The discussion addresses key issues and suggests suitable approaches and tools as well as numerous sources of further information. Diagnosis of a SSF defines the system to be managed, outlines the scope of the management problem in terms of threats and opportunities, and aims to construct realistic and desired future projections for the fishery. These steps can clarify objectives and lead to development of indicators necessary for adaptive management. Before management, however, it is important to mobilize a management constituency to enact change. Ways of identifying stakeholders and understanding both enabling and obstructive interactions and management structures are outlined. These preliminary learning phases for adaptive SSF management are expected to work best if legitimised by collaborative discussion among fishery stakeholders drawing on multiple knowledge systems and participatory approaches to assessment.

Chapter 17 – Centrostephanus rodgersii

Centrostephanus rodgersii is ecologically important on southeastern Australian rocky reefs, where its grazing activity results in a mosaic of barrens and macroalgal habitats. The creation, persistence and demise of C. rodgersii barrens is a major ecological dynamic in this region. Affinity for shelter and nocturnal foraging underlie the mechanism of barrens formation by C. rodgersii. Centrostephanus rodgersii has undergone a range extension into Tasmania facilitated by larval transport in the Eastern Australia Current. Investigation of the impacts of this extension has generated major advances in understanding the biology and ecology of C. rodgersii. In Tasmania lobsters and fishes modulate the success of C. rodgersii and creation of barrens habitat. It could be argued that historically, predators in New South Wales played a greater role in regulating sea urchin populations but this hypothesis remains untested.