Key Requirements for Co-management in Small-Scale Fisheries

The contribution of small-scale fisheries (SSF) to nutrition, food security, employment generation, and poverty alleviation in the developing world is substantial. Co-management, which is a participatory fisheries management approach involving the fishers, state, other stakeholders, and relevant external agents, is endorsed by many practitioners as an effective strategy to address major issues in SSF caused by the increased dependence on ecosystem services, economic globalization, and climate change. In most parts of the world, co-management is now wellestablished as a mainstream approach to addressing major issues in SSF. In this paper, a systematic literature review with content analysis of selected case studies was employed to explore the key problems in the SSF and to examine how comanagement has intervened to resolve major SSF issues. Finally, it attempted to explore the key requirements for operationalizing co-management. The paper builds on lessons learned from case studies from Uruguay, Zambia, Timor Leste, and Sri Lanka, where SSF plays a significant role in fisheries. The paper emphasizes the role of Ostrom’s modified principles, which demonstrates the ability of common pool resource users such as small-scale fishers to manage their resources sustainably. We take the position that the existence of Ostrom’s modified design principles is a significant requirement for operationalizing co-management. The presence of strong, committed, and respected local leaders, unity, and cohesion of community networks, availability of strong local organizations, and enforcement of indirect regulations such as community-based protected areas and closed seasons, and strong local knowledge base on ecological systems are recognized as key requirements for operationalizing co-management. The results also show that healthy socio-economic conditions and appropriate ecological settings enhance the drive for co-management.