Sustainable Fisheries

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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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Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs)

July 17, 2012

A presentation on Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs) as a rapid assessment instrument for measuring wealth generation from fishery resources.

Progress on Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs)

January 1, 2012

This is the supplemental PowerPoint for the presentation given at the IIFET Conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Provides bulleted points regarding the progress, lessons learned, policy recommendations based on Fishery Performance Indicators under evaluation in both developed and developing countries.

Markets and Economies; Performance Indicators

Fisheries Stakeholders and Their Livelihoods in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

December 1, 2011

Fisheries Management for Sustainable Livelihoods (FIMSUL), is a project implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the Government of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in India under the World Bank Trust Fund. The project aims at establishing frameworks, processes and building capacities of various stakeholders especially the Government, to facilitate the planning, design and implementation of appropriate fisheries development and management policies. The project includes a series of stakeholder consultations and consensus building apart from detailed review and analysis in the areas of stakeholders, livelihoods, policy, legal and institutional frame work and fisheries management. Based on this, the project comes up with various options. Stakeholder and livelihoods analysis is an essential part of the project. Hence, the team developed a detailed methodology for stakeholder consultations which includes district level stake holder consultation, focus group discussions, household interviews and validation meetings. The stakeholder and livelihoods analysis following the above steps were done through six NGO partners working along the coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry who were initially trained on the methodology. The NGO partners : PLANT, GUIDE, FERAL, SIFFS, DHAN Foundation and TMSSS, especially a team of dedicated staff engaged by them had done an excellent work in completing comprehensive field exercises and bringing out 12 district/regional reports. These are published separately. This report is a compilation, and complete analysis of the stakeholders and livelihoods based on all the field level consultations.This report is expected to be an important reference to primary stakeholders' perspective of the important stakeholders in the sector, the livelihoods and livelihoods changes, the adaptive and coping mechanism, the relationships between the stakeholders and their hopes and aspirations. For any development intervention for any sector or stakeholder group, region-wise in marine fisheries in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the information from this report could be an important starting point.

Linking Fisheries Reform to Political Economy, Summary

September 1, 2010

A recently completed report on The Political Economy of Natural Resource Use: Lessons for Fisheries Reform consolidates existing knowledge on the political economy of natural resource use. Because of its traditional focus on regulatory approaches the fisheries sector has been slow to apply the lessons from the well established literature on the political economy of property rights. The report draws attention to the tremendous opportunities available for improving the chances for successful fisheries reform across a broad spectrum of countries. Political economy challenges and fishery-specific pathways for establishing rights-based reforms must be closely linked to achieve success in building sustainable wealth in fisheries. This document briefly addresses key issues explored in that report.

The Political Economy of Natural Resource Use: Lessons for Fisheries Reform

April 1, 2010

This report discusses key lessons drawn from reform experience in the wider natural resource sector that might inform successful reform in fisheries. This report is a compilation of 12 papers prepared by acknowledged international experts in the fields of fisheries and wider natural resource reform which were reviewed at a workshop convened by the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in May 2009.The report forms an important initial input into an ongoing enquiry into the political economy of fisheries reform initiated by the World Bank in partnership with the Partnership for African Fisheries (a United Kingdom Department for International Development funded program of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)).

The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform

January 1, 2009

Global marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset. The Sunken Billions study shows that the difference between the potential and actual net economic benefits from marine fisheries is in the order of $50 billion per year – equivalent to more than half the value of the global seafood trade. The cumulative economic loss to the global economy over the last three decades is estimated to be in the order of two trillion dollars. In many countries the catching operations are buoyed up by subsidies, so that the global fishery economy to the point of landing (the harvest sub-sector), is in deficit. Improved governance can recapture a substantial proportion of the of this $50 billion annual economic loss. With effective economic incentives, rather than being a net drain on the global economy, sustainable fisheries can create an economic surplus, be a driver of economic growth and a basis for livelihood opportunities. Economically, healthy fisheries are fundamental to achieving not only the restoration of fish stocks but other accepted objectives for the fisheries sector, such as improved livelihoods, exports, fish food security and economic growth. When fish stocks are fully exploited in the biological sense, the associated fisheries are almost invariably performing below their economic optimum. In some cases, fisheries may be biologically sustainable but still operate at an economic loss. The depletion in fish capital resulting from overexploitation is rarely reflected in the reckoning of a nation's overall capital and GDP growth. For over three decades the world's marine fish stocks have come under increasing pressure from fishing, from loss of habitats and from pollution. Rising sea temperatures and the increasing acidity of the oceans is placing further stress on already stressed ecosystems. Illegal fishing and unreported catches undermine fishery science while some subsidies continue to support unsustainable fishing practices. Marine fisheries reform can recapture a substantial proportion of the economic losses. Rather than being a net drain on the global economy, sustainable fisheries can create an economic surplus and be a driver of economic growth, both in the marine economy and other sectors. The biological sustainability of fish stocks has often occupied the centre stage of international efforts, for example, the Plan of Implementation of the WSSD makes specific reference to recovery of fish stocks. However sustainable fisheries are not only a problem of biology and ecology, but one of managing political and economic processes and replacing pernicious incentives with those which foster improved governance and responsible stewardship. The comprehensive reforms required imply political, social and economic costs. Fisheries reform is a long-term process and will require political will founded on a consensus vision built through broad stakeholder dialogue.

Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries: The Reality of Success in Fisheries Management

April 1, 2004

The findings of the case-studies (shown in the list of references below) which were undertaken as part of the World Bank funded project 'Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries' are presented in a series of Policy Briefs. In Policy Brief 2, the comparison and synthesis of the findings from across the world highlight seven important issues or factors which can help us to understand the reality of success in fisheries management. It is clear that successful fisheries management is rarely due to one factor, but to a complex combination of numerous elements. Furthermore, some of the factors are beyond the control of fisheries managers (environmental factors being an obvious example) and others which are local and not replicable in other circumstances (the role of key people being an obvious example).

Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries: Institutional Capacity-building for Success in Fisheries Management

April 1, 2004

The purpose of this series of Policy Briefs is to ensure effective dissemination of information collected and generated as a result of the World Bank-funded Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries, the ACP Fish II Feasibility Study (EC), and a Workshop on Fiscal Reform in Fisheries (DFID and GTZ). In Policy Brief 3, institutions matter for fisheries management. Working towards success in fisheries management requires consideration of many factors, but the underpinning role of appropriate institutions is fundamental to the process. Without strong, capable institutions fisheries management cannot hope to work towards success. While institutional capacity-building is relevant to all fisheries, there appears to be greatest need in developing countries where institutions are often new and untried, or weak and in need of further assistance.

Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries: Building Institutional Capacity, the Case of Mauritania (Draft)

April 1, 2004

The purpose of this series of Policy Briefs is to ensure effective dissemination of information collected and generated as a result of the World Bank-funded Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries, the ACP Fish II Feasibility Study (EC), and a Workshop on Fiscal Reform in Fisheries (DFID and GTZ). This Policy Brief #5 addresses building institutional capacity. Appropriate institutional capacity to implement management is critical to success. In addition to the institutions themselves, such capacity encompasses a wide range of elements: staff skill, budget levels, range of experience, vision, fiscal instruments and so on(1). The development of a fishery management approach and the institutions involved can be a long process. Generally developing countries are not very far into this process and need to develop appropriate institutional arrangements and support (e.g. research) so that fishery management units can be identified and plans developed. Alongside institutions we need to also consider an appropriate information system to guide managers and to enable the assessment of management performance.

Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries: Cooperation in Fisheries Management, the Case of Senegal (Draft)

April 1, 2004

The purpose of this series of Policy Briefs is to ensure effective dissemination of information collected and generated as a result of the World Bank-funded Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries, the ACP Fish II Feasibility Study (EC), and a Workshop on Fiscal Reform in Fisheries (DFID and GTZ). In Policy Brief 8, cooperation between stakeholders is a key to success: this cooperation may be horizontal with local fishers joining together to push for change or may be vertical with local groups working together with industry and government to develop and implement fisheries management plans. Co-management – one form of cooperative behaviour – may help to improve the chances of success in fisheries management. The cornerstone of cooperation is, of course, the sense of 'ownership' of the process of management which can often encourage greater compliance with new fishery regulations.

Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries: Resource Rent as a Central Concept in Fisheries Management, the Case of Namibia

April 1, 2004

The purpose of these Policy Briefs is to ensure effective dissemination of information collected and generated as a result of the World Bank-funded Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries, the ACP Fish II Feasibility Study (EC), and a Workshop on Fiscal Reform in Fisheries (DFID and GTZ). This Policy Brief 9, discusses resource rent which is a key concept in the management of fisheries as it refers to a source of considerable wealth, potentially or actually available to society. Resource rent generated in fisheries can be a critical contributor to sustaining effective fisheries management, and can contribute to government revenue and to the wealth and wellbeing of society. If its potential is not well understood and there are no limits on fishing effort, this wealth will not be realised. Potential resource rents of great value can easily be squandered on excess capacity, leading to depletion of fisheries resources. Namibia, which became independent in 1990, is a good example of successful fisheries management leading to the generation and capturing of resource rent of significant value.

Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries: An Approach to Assessing Fisheries Management Performance

April 1, 2004

The purpose of these series of Policy Briefs is to ensure effective dissemination of information collected and generated as a result of the World Bank-funded Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries, the ACP Fish II Feasibility Study (EC), and a Workshop on Fiscal Reform in Fisheries (DFID and GTZ). The primary objective of assessing fisheries management performance is the identification of opportunities for improving the effectiveness of fisheries management. Little exists in the literature specifically on how to go about such an exercise. This is partly explained by the need to tailor each exercise to fit the particular circumstances of the fisherY and its management system. There exists, however, a useful literature covering aspects of the fisheries management function, a sample of which is provided in the box below. Assessing fisheries management performance is essentially assessing the success, or otherwise, of fisheries management. The first Policy Brief in this series had discussed what constitutes 'success' and some of the difficulties in arriving at conclusions as to how successful fisheries management has been. This Policy Brief 11 tentatively suggests an approach to undertaking an assessment of fisheries management performance. It is intended that it be used with discretion and imagination. Those undertaking an assessment exercise should tailor the exercise to the particular circumstances of the fishery.