Sustainable Fisheries

Special collection

Worldwide, small-scale coastal fisheries contribute significantly to providing food, employment, and incomes to many very poor people. But these same fisheries, and the ecosystems upon which they rely, are under increasing threat from a combination of climate change, pollution, over-fishing, and the exploitation of resources.

Fisheries management has been a major component in trying to address some of these issues, but with limited global success. The potential of fisheries, if managed well, is considerable but what form that potential will take will depend on how and why fisheries are managed.

This collection of reports and presentations explores just this question, describing some of the challenges faced by small-scale fisheries worldwide and their efforts to address these challenges and improve the health and well-being of the people who are dependent on these threatened environments.

The collection brings together the "grey literature" of the field, valuable work that is not readily available through academic journals and databases but is instead spread across dozens of organizational websites. This set of reports was initially identified as part of a synthesis review of key lessons commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation's Program on Oceans and Fisheries. We are pleased to make it more easily available for others to use and build on and encourage researchers and practitioners to add relevant work to the collection.

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CRFM Consultancy Report on Review of Existing Policy, Legal and Institutional Arrangements for Governance and Management of Flyingfish Fisheries in the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem

May 1, 2012

Many of the marine resources in the Caribbean are considered to be fully or overexploited. A Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis identified three priority transboundary problems that affect the CLME: unsustainable exploitation of fish and other living resources, the degradation and modification of natural habitats, pollution and contamination. The fourwing flyingfish fishery is the single most important small pelagic fishery in the southern Lesser Antilles. It is a shared resource, which has been traditionally exploited by seven different States, i.e. Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. With expanding fleet capacity and limited cooperation among the States exploiting the flyingfish, there is concern that the resource may become overfished. While the flyingfish fishery is a directed fishery, it is at the same time part of a multi-species, multi-gear fishery, which also targets regional large pelagic species.This case study identifies and analyses the priority transboundary problems and issues. The policy, legal and institutional reforms needed to address such transboundary issues and achieve long-term conservation and sustainable use of the resources are also identified. A major and necessary component of the case study is an evaluation of the existing policy cycles and linkages among the countries and institutions involved with the flyingfish fishery.