Nik Mustapha Raja Abdullah

Fisheries Co-Management - An Institutional innovation?: lessons from South East Asia and Southern Africa

During the last decade the co-management concept has gained increasing acceptance as a potential way forward to improve fisheries management performance. It has, however, at the same time become increasingly evident that the co-management concept is not clearly defined and means very different things to different people. In this article, we attempt to document experience available from a recent study on fisheries co-management that has researched case studies of various implementations of co-management arrangements in coastal and freshwater fisheries in South East Asia and Southern Africa, and to present a more comprehensive understanding of co-management and to summarise the experiences with both the positive outcomes and the problems in actual implementation.

Measuring Transaction Costs of Fisheries Co-Management

Fisheries co-management as an alternative to centralized command and control fisheries management is often suggested as a solution to the problems of fisheries resource use conflicts and overexploitation. Various researchers have talked of the importance of studying the role of transaction costs between different institutional arrangements for managing fisheries resources. This article provides an analysis of measurements of the transaction costs under a fisheries co-management system in San Salvador Island, Philippines. The results obtained for the period 1988–1996 indicate that the difference in the total costs of fisheries management between centralized government management and co-management is not that significant. However, the downstream or implementation costs are lower for a co-managed approach. This is because the cost of monitoring and enforcement are lower, and there is higher compliance with rules and regulations. This is important from a policy perspective as the implementation costs are the costs encountered on a perpetual basis as the management institutions are implemented. This could result in an overall lower cost of managing the fisheries resources for the society.

Transaction Costs and Fisheries Co-Management

Fisheries co-management as an alternative to centralized command and control fisheries management is often suggested as a solution to the problems of fisheries resource use conflicts and over exploitation. This paper highlights some elements of the transaction costs under a fisheries co-management system. The transaction costs can be categorized into three major cost items: (i) information costs, (ii) collective fisheries decision-making costs, and (iii) collective operational costs. An approach to measuring transaction costs of fisheries co-management systems both in static and dynamic processes is also proposed. There is a need to empirically evaluate the nature of the transaction costs involved in fisheries co-management institutions as a basis for evaluating the efficiency or net benefits of co-managed fisheries compared to centrally managed fisheries.

Small-scale coastal fisheries and co-management

The article discusses the problems and The experience of fisheries management in South-east Asia has shown issues in planning and management Of small-scale coastal fisheries. The that fishing is a social and economic activity and social and economic appropriateness of co-management or considerations have major impacts on management. If countries are to community-based management in the manage their coastal marine resources they must be prepared to take South-east Asian region are examined. Some ranking by countries of the prosinto account a wide range of social and economic issues that are pects for the adoption of the coimportant to coastal communities. Social and economic considerations management approach for small-scale refer to those aspects of the fishery system in which human and social coastal fisheries in the South-east Asian region are attempted. elements influence fishery objectives and economic activity. The problems and issues in planning and management of small-scale coastal The authors are lecturers at the Departfisheries are discussed in this article. In the next section the focus is on ment of Natural Resource Economics, planning and setting objectives for management of small-scale coastal Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, 43400 Serfisheries. The appropriateness of co-management for small-scale coastal

Malaysian fisheries policy: Search for new grounds

Past fisheries development policies in Malaysia are assessed and new grounds for managing the Malaysian fisheries are explored. Some incompatibility in the goals for fishery development are discerned, especially those of increasing domestic landings through mechanization and resource conservation. Future management efforts should be based on a fuller understanding of the fishery stock and regional management of fish stocks. Aquaculture is often seen as a plausible alternative in order to augment supplies from the capture fisheries. A comprehensive multidisciplinary approach is needed to transform and commercialize traditional, experience-dependent culture systems into technology-packaged systems based on scientific methods. There is also substantial potential for the development of recreational fisheries.

Fisheries Management in Asia: The Way Forward

The importance of the fisheries ector to the Asian economy is widely acknowledged. Its significance lies in three main areas: (J) as a source of animal protein for human consumption, (ii) as a source of employment, and (iii) as a source of foreign exchange. About 150 million people in Asia are economically dependent on fishing and its related activities, although marine fishing accounts for only about 1% of the total world-wide economy. Table 1 shows the distribution of world marine catch by principal producers in 1993. Ten out of twenty top world fish producers are Asian, with China contributing about 10 million tons of fish, or 11.9% of the total world catch. These ten countries together account for almost 43% of the worlds fish catch. Ten percent is produced by Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam (FAO 1995). In 1992 Asia accounted for almost 43% of the worlds total fishing fleet, far ahead of its more advanced counterparts from the former USSR, Europe, and North America. Table 2 shows the distribution, by continent, of the worlds nominal catch and total fishing fleet. In terms of productivity of the fishing fleet, the index for Asian fisheries is quite low at 4.39 metric tons per gross registered ton (GRT) compared to those in South America, Africa, and Oceania (FAO 1995). With population growing at a rapid rate and an increasing demand for fish among Asians, it is expected that more pressure will be applied to already dwindling fish stocks in this region. The facts of the fishing crisis in Asia have been well documented, yet there is little indication that the fishing industry and those who control it are interested in anything other than short-term economic gain. The general response to declining fish stocks around the world has been to continue employing bigger boats and more sophisticated methods to increase catches and maintain markets. As seen from table 3, Asia accounts for 85% of the number of decked vessels in operation, and about 62% of undecked vessels in 1992. In terms of capacity this represents a 129% increase in the GRT of decked vessels in Asia compared to a 91% increase in capacity of decked vessels for the world as a whole between 1970 and 1992. It appears that Asia may be making the same mistakes Europe, USSR, and North America have made with regard to overcapitalization in the fisheries. Unless the commercial fish-

Towards an Integrated Fisheries Information System in Malaysia

Hersoug, Bj0rn and Dag leonardsen (1979). Bygger de landet ?, Oslo: Pax. Holm, Petter (1993). Et Market for Fisk? Om EFS flskeripolitikk og norsk flskerinœring . Oslo: Kystnaeringen. (1991). Saerinteresser versus allmenninteresser i forhandlings0konomien. Om Hovedavtalen for fiskerinaeringa, Tidsskrift or samfunnsforskning , 32(2):991 19. and Jahn Petter Johnsen (1990). Hovedavtalen for fiskerinœringen ved en norsk EF-tilpasning. Troms0: Fiskernes EF-utvalg. Kgl. Res. 22.3 (1991). Forskrift om regulering av eksporten av fisk og fiskevarer. Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Lien, B0rre (1975). Findus og norsk fiskeripolitikk, 1943-1956. Masters thesis. Troms0: University of Troms0. Main Agreement (1964). Hovedavtale for norsk flskerinœring. Inngãtt mellom Fiskeridepartementet og Norges Fiskarlag , 3. juni 1964. Vedlegg til St.prp.nr.142, 1963-64. Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Marchak, M. Patricia (1991). The Integrated Circus: The New Right and the Restructuring of Global Markets. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press. Mikaisen, Knut H. (1977). Lovgivning og interessekamp. Masters thesis. Oslo: University of Oslo. Moxnes, Einar (1990). Fiskeindustriens organisering og rammevilkâr, NOU 1990:24, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Oslen, Johan P. (1988). Statsstyre og Institusjonsutforming. Oslo: Norwegian University Press. Processor Act (1970). Lov om omsetning av fiskfra tilvirker av 18. desember 1970. Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Ot.prp.nr.85 (1969-70). Om lov om omsetning av fìsk fra tilvirker, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. 0t.prp.nr.90 (1988-89). Om lov om regulering av fisk og fiskevarer, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Ot.prp.nr.61 ( 991-92). Om endringer i fiskerilovgivningen, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Raw Fish Act (1951). Lov av 14. desember 1951 om omsetningen av rãfisk, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. St.meld.nr.93 (1982-83). Om retningslinjer for fiskeripolitikken, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Subsidieutvalget (1963). Innstilling om stfitteordningene og l<f>nnsomheten i fiskeriene, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries. Torskefiskeutvalget (1958). Innstilling fra Torskefiskeutvalget 1957, Oslo: Ministry of Fisheries.