Differences in livelihoods, socioeconomic characteristics, and knowledge about the sea between fishers and non-fishers living near and far from marine parks on the Kenyan coast

The socioeconomic conditions in nine communities of the Kenyan coast were examined to test the hypotheses that socioeconomic characteristics and knowledge about the sea differ for: (1) fishers compared to non-fishers; and (2) fishers living adjacent to parks compared to fishers living away from parks. Compared to non-fishers, fishers were poorer, had higher occupational diversity, more participation in community decision-making, and higher scores on six dimensions of knowledge about marine resources. Fishers living adjacent parks had lower occupational diversity, higher fortnightly expenditures, greater knowledge of the effects of land-based pollutants and market demands than non-park fishers. These relationships may, however, be a result of urbanization near Kenya's marine parks, rather than the marine parks' effect on fishers' knowledge and livelihoods. Consistent with studies from other parts of the world, this study finds that there are aspects of Kenyan fishers' socioeconomic conditions and knowledge about the sea that characterize them as distinct from non-fishers. Initiatives designed to improve the socioeconomic conditions of fishers or to manage fishery stocks need to understand and account for these differences

Participatory assessment of priority fishery profiles in an overfished urban inshore seascape in Kenya

This study presents a participatory assessment of overfished small-scale fisheries from selected landing sites in coastal Kenya using mixed quantitative and qualitative research methods. A seven-criteria ranking using a modified Delphi questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was used. Through a process of scoring the fisheries on these crite- ria, marine aquarium fishing ranked highest with 86.7%, while beach seine ranked lowest at 55.3%. Averaging of scores and ranking across focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) at individual sites resulted in the following highest scorers: handlines (58.6%), octopus (55.9%), and basket traps (52.5%) for Bamburi; aquar- ium fishing (86.7%), handlines (85.5%), and reef-seines for Marina/Mtwapa; mixed pelagic (60.7%), octopus (60.5%), and rabbitfish (58.4%) for Nyali; and basket traps (70.4%), handline (57.8%), and monofilament nets (64.3%) for Reef. Destruction of critical habitats and prohibitive costs of fishing crafts were key management issues identified through scoring and ranking criteria, while 22 management issues were identified through FGDs. These findings suggest an existing spatial mixture of differences and commonalities among fisheries profiles and management issues. This study revealed trade-offs that should be incorporated in the co-management plans of the respective Beach Management Units (BMUs) in coastal Kenya

Transitions towards co-management: the process of marine resource management devolution in three east African countries

Communities are increasingly empowered with the ability and responsibility of working with national governments to make decisions about marine resources in decentralized co-management arrangements. This transition toward decentralized management represents a changing governance landscape. This paper explores the transition to decentralisation in marine resource management systems in three East African countries. The paper draws upon expert opinion and literature from both political science and linked social-ecological systems fields to guide exploration of five key governance transition concepts in each country: (1) drivers of change; (2) institutional arrangments; (3 institutional fit; (4) actor interactions; and (5) adaptive management. Key findings are that decentralized management in the region was largely donor-driven and only partly tranferred power to local stakeholders. However, increased accountability created a degree of democracy in regards to natural resource governance that was not previously present. Additionally, increased local-level adaptive management has emerged in most systems and, to date, this experimental management has helped to change resource user's views from metaphysical to more scientific cause-and-effect attribution of changes to resource conditions

Vulnerability of coastal communities to key impacts of climate change on coral reef fisheries

Coral reefs support the livelihood of millions of people especially those engaged in marine fisheries activities. Coral reefs are highly vulnerable to climate change induced stresses that have led to substantial coral mortality over large spatial scales. Such climate change impacts have the potential to lead to declines in marine fish production and compromise the livelihoods of fisheries dependent communities. Yet few studies have examined social vulnerability in the context of changes specific to coral reef ecosystems. In this paper, we examine three dimensions of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) of 29 coastal communities across five western Indian Ocean countries to the impacts of coral bleaching on fishery returns. A key contribution is the development of a novel, network-based approach to examining sensitivity to changes in the fishery that incorporates linkages between fishery and non-fishery occupations. We find that key sources of vulnerability differ considerably within and between the five countries. Our approach allows the visualization of how these dimensions of vulnerability differ from site to site, providing important insights into the types of nuanced policy interventions that may help to reduce vulnerability at a specific location. To complement this, we develop framework of policy actions thought to reduce different aspects of vulnerability at varying spatial and temporal scales. Although our results are specific to reef fisheries impacts from coral bleaching, this approach provides a framework for other types of threats and different social-ecological systems more broadly.9 page(s