CommunityBased Marine Fisheries Management CFM

1
Community-Based Marine Fisheries Management (CFM)

• Sebastian Mathew
• International Collective in Support of
  Fishworkers (ICSF)
• National Seminar on Enhancing Skills for Research
  Development in Marine Fisheries
• 5 to 7 February 2007, CMFRI, Kochi

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What is Community?

• the concept is one of the most difficult and
  controversial in modern society.a term which has
  attracted many different interpretations and has
  been subjected to wide use and abuse
• Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 1991

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What is the nature of Community?

• Communities may be inclusive of some people and
  exclusive of others in some cases community
  boundaries are rigidly maintained, in others
  boundaries are more fluid and open

4
Community in Indian Legal Instruments

• Constitution of India treats people of India as a
  community (Article 39 ownership and control of
  material resources of the community should be
  distributed to subserve the common good)
• MFRAs do not mention community
• Comprehensive Marine Fishing Policy 2004 mentions
  fishing community in relation to ornamental
  fishery coastal protection (mangrove
  afforestation) and FADs

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Marine Fishing Communities in India

• Can be marine fishing castes-based from a
  locality or across a region
• Can be customary (those who have been practicing
  fishing for more than a generation)
• All those people who make a living or make
  profits from marine fisheries and who are
  formally registered
• All those who actually work on board a fishing
  vessel, owner(s) and worker(s) included, both
  resident and migrant
• All those who work on board a fishing vessel and
  originating from fishing castes
• Workers on board fishing vessels? Owners of
  fishing vessels? Gear-based? Area-based?

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What is Fisheries Management?

• Operationally, the process of taking decisions
  and implementing measures, within a
  legal/institutional framework, at different
  levels, in relation to Who to, what to, when to,
  where to, how to, how long to, how much to, fish,
  in permutations and combinations, subject to
  coherent goals, objectives and principles, in a
  time-bound manner

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Why CFM is Important?

• Recognize the importance of participatory regimes
• Greater meaning and effectiveness to fisheries
  management measures, including the possibility of
  having more effective conflict resolution
  mechanisms
• Cost-saving

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What are the Conditions under which CFM can be
Effective?

• Existence of mature institutions such as
  associations, trade unions, cooperatives of
  fishing communities, including women and men
• Existence of enabling legislation for
  decentralization/devolution, for recognition of
  local institutions to participate in fisheries
  management

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What are the Conditions under which CFM may not
be Effective?

• If CFM is conceived only as part of
  conditionality for multilateral financial
  assistance
• If CFM is conceived of as exclusionary of women,
  workers and/or the poor, without taking into
  account equity aspects of fisheries

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Conclusion

• In developing countries such as India where
  institutions of fishing communities are yet to be
  well-developed toward undertaking fisheries
  management, CFM could, at best, be seen as part
  of co-management regimes where the State at
  different levels manage fisheries in
  collaboration with fishing communities