Photograph: © SAF
Excerpts;
Management of fisheries at the community level can help curb overfishing and the ‘tragedy of the commons’ which is driving humans to decimate the planet’s dwindling fish stocks, an international scientific team says.
The positive finding comes from the world’s largest field investigation of 42 co-managed coral reef fisheries in five countries spread across the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The team of 17 scientists from eight nations concluded that partnerships between government, conservation groups, and local fishers – known as ‘co-management’ – were having considerable success in both meeting the livelihood needs of local communities and protecting fish stocks.
The team studied local fisheries arrangements on coral reefs in Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, using a combination of interviews with local fishers and community leaders, and underwater fish counts…
