A study by marine scientists has given powerful backing to campaigners who say the future of many of the world’s fisheries lies in co-management by government, local people and fishermen.
Publishing in the science journal Nature, researchers said the traditional “top-down” approach – trawling quotas set down and policed by central authorities – was failing in many fisheries as rules were often poorly implemented or abused.
The best-managed fisheries are those that bring together local representatives and fishermen who co-determine how the resources should be managed and enforce these decisions effectively, they said.
“They have very strong, cohesive communities with strong leaders,” Nicolas Gutierrez, a University of Washington fishery scientist, who headed the paper, said.
One billion people depend on fish or shellfish as their primary source of protein, but a third of fish stocks worldwide are overexploited or depleted, according to figures cited in the study.
Dr Gutierrez and colleagues looked at 130 fisheries in 44 developed and developing countries, factoring in the size and location of the waters, the sustainability of the catches, the fishing gear used, the species fished, the regulatory system and wealth derived and shared from fishing.
Those that performed best shared responsibility between the government and users, rather than followed a rulebook conceived and directed by the central authorities.
Among the stars is a co-managed fishery of water snails, also known as Chilean abalone, which was tentatively launched in 1988 and covered initially four kilometres of Chile’s coastline.
It now embraces 4,000 kilometres of coast and involves more than 20,000 artisanal fishers.
The study did not focus on deep-water international fisheries, Dr Gutierrez said.
Most of the fisheries it investigated were generally within 50 nautical miles of the coast. Catching techniques included industrial trawlers as well as artisanal fishing. Dr Gutierrez added that governments or organisations seeking to strengthen community management in fisheries had to talent-spot strong leaders and these may need training in economics or ecology or given the help of experts.