A Quantitative Analysis of Co-Management Success Across the Indo- Pacific

Abstract

Throughout the Indo-Pacific region, communities are increasingly empowered with the ability and responsibility of working with national governments to make decisions about their marine resources. In some instances, co-management arrangements have been successful at conserving marine resources by developing locally appropriate rules to limit overexploitation. These examples have often prompted widespread replication by governments, conservation groups, and sometimes communities themselves. However, this replication is often done without a fundamental understanding of why co-management may be successful under some conditions but unsuccessful under others. Thus a question of crucial importance to resource managers, stakeholders, and common property theorists alike is what factors enable some of these institutions to succeed while others fail? Drawing on common property and adaptive governance theories, we examine relationships between socioeconomic conditions, institutional design, and the effectiveness of collaborative management in 5 countries throughout the Indo-Pacific region. This innovative project takes a big picture comparative approach to a subject that has often been studied at a local scale.Keywords: Fishery Management, Fisheries Economics, Beyond Anecdote and Advocacy: Assessing the Impact of Co-management as an Instrument for Fisheries Governanc