Collective action and property rights in fisheries management

"Fisheries are complex and interdependent ecological and social systems that require integrated management approaches. The actions of one person or group of users affect the availability of the resource for others. Managing such common pool resources requires conscious efforts by a broad range of stakeholders to organize and craft rules enabling equitable and sustainable use of the resources for everyone's benefit. Collective action is often a prerequisite for the development of community-based institutions and the devolution of authority... in the 1990s the WorldFish Center conducted an issuebased, multisectoral, and multidisciplinary analysis (including ecological, economic, social, political, and administrative perspectives) that led to the production of a coastal environmental profile, a technical report detailing the status of fisheries, and an integrated fisheries management plan.... San Miguel's experience highlights (1) the critical role of an appropriate human perception of the situation; (2) the importance of collective action and stakeholder participation at key stages of research, planning, and implementation; (3) the usefulness of structured decision methods for research, planning, and associated debates; and (4) the efficacy of research combined with planning efforts to ensure its utilization and relevance on the one hand and to provide a scientific basis for management planning on the other." - from Text.Public goods ,Poverty alleviation ,Collective action ,

Water Resources, Agriculture and Pasture: Implications of Growing Demand and Increasing Scarcity

Water availability for irrigation is threatened in many regions by rapidly increasing demand for nonagricultural water uses in industry, households, and the environment. The scarcity of irrigation water will not only impact crop production, but also meat production, as much of the pasture used to feed livestock is irrigated. Grassland is caught between two countervailing forces: a requirement for increasing meat demand that boosts the need for additional pasture to support livestock production, and rapidly increasing water scarcity that makes pasture irrigation uneconomical. The most effective means of dealing with water scarcity is likely to be conserving water in existing water uses. Improvements in the irrigation sector to increase water use efficiency must be made at the technical, managerial, and institutional levels. Innovative water pricing policies that increase the prices for domestic and industrial water while preserving incomes for farmers and the rural poor will encourage water-saving innovation

Water Resources, Agriculture and Pasture: Implications of Growing Demand and Increasing Scarcity

Key points 1. Water availability for irrigation is threatened in many regions by rapidly increasing demand for nonagricultural water uses in industry, households, and the environment. The scarcity of irrigation water will not only impact crop production, but also meat production, as much of the pasture used to feed livestock is irrigated. 2. Grassland is caught between two countervailing forces: a requirement for increasing meat demand that boosts the need for additional pasture to support livestock production, and rapidly increasing water scarcity that makes pasture irrigation uneconomical. 3. The most effective means of dealing with water scarcity is likely to be conserving water in existing water uses. Improvements in the irrigation sector to increase water use efficiency must be made at the technical, managerial, and institutional levels. 4. Innovative water pricing policies that increase the prices for domestic and industrial water while preserving incomes for farmers and the rural poor will encourage water-saving innovation

Assessment, Management and Future Directions for Coastal Fisheries in Asian Countries

Abstract The biomass of 40 ecological groups, the diet composition of prey and predators, production/biomass (P/B) and consumption/biomass (Q/B) ratios, and catches were used as basic input to parameterize an Ecopath model of the Gulf of Thailand. Following construction of a mass-balance ecosystem model, a time-dynamic simulation model (Ecosim) was used to simulate the impact of change in fishing effort. This was done using time series data to validate the historic fisheries development in the Gulf of Thailand prior to using the model for forward-looking simulations. The time series data used in the analyses were catch and effort data from research vessel trawl surveys and landings data for six groups of fishing gear operating in the Gulf during the period 1973 to 1993. The fish market price and fixed and variable costs of each fleet (as well as profit) were also used as input for the time-series simulations using Ecosim. The results depict changes in biomass and trophic interactions in time (Ecosim) and space (Ecospace). The model was also used to investigate management options or measures for the fisheries of the Gulf of Thailand. Recommendations for future studies using Ecopath with Ecosim are also presented

Change and diversity in smallholder rice-fish systems: Recent evidence and policy lessons from Bangladesh

Efforts to unlock the genetic potential of both rice and fish, when combined with improvements in the management of rice-fish systems, can potentially increase agricultural productivity and food security in some of the poorest and most populous countries in Asia. In Bangladesh, estimates suggest that the country's potential rice-fish production system encompasses 2-3 million hectares of land. But despite three decades of research on biophysical and technical aspects of rice-fish systems, this potential has not been fully realized due to insufficient attention given to the social, economic, and policy dimensions of rice-fish system improvement. This paper provides a characterization of the diverse and changing nature of rice-fish systems in Bangladesh to shed new light on the economic viability of different rice-fish systems and recommend policy and investment options to accelerate the development of appropriate rice-fish technologies. Data are drawn from a novel subdistrict-level survey of fishery officers, a household/enterprise survey, focus group discussions, and a meta-review of the literature on aquaculture in the country, all of which were conducted in 2010-2011. Findings indicate that concurrent rice-fish systems, alternating rice-fish systems, and collectively managed systems offer considerable potential for increasing productivity and farm incomes in Bangladesh. Findings also suggest that while innovation in these rice-fish systems is being driven by households and communities, there is need for more supportive government policies and investments to enable further innovation. Policymakers need to develop effective regulations to promote feed and fish quality and quantity, for example. More rigorous analysis of the intended and unintended impacts of these policies and investments is also necessary. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved