| 8. Economics and Social Science |
| 8-8. The Role of Defined Geographical Areas in Community Fisheries and Ecosystem Co-Management |
| This sub-session is designed to examine the socio-economic and bio-economic aspects of defined geographical areas in community fisheries and ecosystem co-management. All fishery management needs to ensure a continued supply of harvestable fish, mitigate the economic and social impacts of harvesting interactions and gear incompatibilities, and minimize competition for resources that are distributed unevenly in space and time. Standard fisheries science models focus on fish stocks and externalities, and assume an open access resource regime. However, others base their distinct approach on the interrelated factors of harvesting interactions, gear externalities and resource allocation, and are implemented in defined geographical areas under controlled access. Thus standard fisheries management focuses on trying to manage unknowns and therefore inherently unmanageable issues. In contrast, old-established and proven systems of community-based marine resource co-management indigenously developed in Asia-Pacific and other regions focus on human problems that are inherently manageable. They also implicitly account for the complex multi-species and multi-gear nature of fisheries resources. Among other important aspects of this approach it can be demonstrated that: |
| 1) |
The implementation rights and rules for fisheries management based on defined geographical areas under controlled access is a fundamentally important tool for coastal fisheries co-management, particularly to ensure stakeholder involvement and the equitable allocation of resources.(Socio-economic aspects) |
| 2) |
Management based on defined geographical areas under controlled access can be compatible with ecosystem co-management, as has been demonstrated for centuries by many local systems of resources management. (Bio-economic aspects) |
| 3) |
Implicit in the use of defined geographical areas under controlled access is that the roles and duties of users/local managers are clarified and the need for supplemental institutions defined, as, for example, when communities supported by relevant institutions function as the stewards of the local marine ecosystem services. (Policy aspects) |
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