Abstract
The literature on fisheries co-management is almost silent on the issue of the movement of fisherfolk within fisheries, although such movement must have implications for the effectiveness of co-management. The introduction of co-management often involves the formation of new structures that should enable the participation of key stakeholder groups in decision-making and management, but such participation is challenging for migrating fishers. The article reports on a study on Lake Victoria, East Africa, which investigated the extent of movement around the lake and the implications of movement for how fishers participate and are represented in co-management, and the implications of the extent and nature of movement for co-management structures and processes. The analysis draws on the concept of space from the literature on participation in development and on a framework of representation in fisheries co-management in addressing these questions. The created space is on an ‘invited’ rather than open basis, reflecting the top-down nature of implementation and the desire to secure participation of different occupational groups, as well as women in a male-dominated sector. The more powerful boat owners dominate positions of power within the co-management system, particularly as the levels of co-management, from sub-district to national, are traversed. The limited power and resources of boat crew are exacerbated by the degree and nature of movement around the lake, making effective participation in co-management decision-making a challenge.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Béné C, Neiland AE (2004) Empowerment reform, yes…but empowerment of whom? Fisheries decentralization reforms in developing countries: a critical assessment with specific reference to poverty reduction. Aquatic Resources, Culture and Development 1:35–49
Béné C, Neiland AE (2006) From participation to governance: A critical review of the concepts of governance, co-management, and participation and their implementation in small-scale inland fisheries in developing countries. Policy, Economics and Social Science Discussion Paper Series. World Fish Center, pp 74
Béné C, Macfadyen G, Allison EH (2007) Increasing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to poverty alleviation and food security. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 481. UN Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome
Béné C, Belal E, Baba MO, Ovie S, Raji A, Njaya F, Andi MN, Russell A, Neiland A (2009) Power struggle, dispute and alliance over local resources: analyzing ‘Democratic’ decentralization of natural resources through the lenses of Africa inland fisheries. World Development 37:1935–1950
Berkes F (2008) Commons in a multi-level world. International Journal of the Commons 2:1–6
Berkes F (2009) Evolution of co-management: role of knowledge generation, bridging organizations and social learning. Journal of Environmental Management 90:1692–1702
Botchway K (2001) Paradox of empowerment: reflections on a case study from Northern Ghana. World Development 29:135–153
Brett EA (2003) Participation and accountability in development management. Journal of Development Studies 40:1–29
Carlsson L, Berkes F (2005) Co-management: concepts and methodological implications. Journal of Environmental Management 75:65–76
Chambers R (1983) Rural development: putting the last first. Longman, London
Chambers R (1997) Whose reality counts? Putting the first last. Intermediate Technology Publications, London
Cornwall A (2004) Spaces for transformation? Reflections on issues of power and difference in participation in development. In: Hickey S, Mohan G (eds) Participation: from tyranny to transformation? Zed Books, London
de Haan A (1999) Livelihoods and poverty: the role of migration. A critical review of the migration literature. Journal of Development Studies 36:1–47
de Haan A (2000) Migration, livelihoods and rights: the relevance of migration in development policies. Social Development Working Paper No. 4. Department for International Development (DFID), London
de Haan A (2006) Migration in the development studies literature: has it come out of its marginality? Research Paper No. 2006/19. UNU-Wider, Helsinki
Department for Fisheries Resources (DFR) (2003) Guidelines for Beach Management Units. Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries, Entebbe
Esman M, Uphoff N (1984) Local organizations: intermediaries in rural development. Cornell University Press, London
Francis P, James R (2003) Balancing rural poverty reduction and citizen participation: The Contradictions of Uganda’s Decentralization Program. World Development 31:325–337
Gaventa J (2004) Towards participatory governance: assessing the transformative possibilities. In: Hickey S, Mohan G (eds) Participation: from tyranny to transformation? Zed Books, London
Geheb K, Crean K, Medard M, Kyangwa M, Lwenya C, Onyango P (2002) On pitfalls and building blocks: towards the management of lake Victoria’s fisheries. In: Geheb K, Sarch M-T (eds) Africa’s inland fisheries: the management challenge. Fountain Publishers, Kampala
Haakonsen J, Diaw M (eds) (1991) Fishermen’s migration in west Africa. FAO/DANIDA, IDAF, Working Paper 36. FAO, Rome
Hara M (2006) Nesting participatory fisheries management within district decentralisation: the case of Mangochi District, Malawi. Paper presented at “Survival of the Commons: Mounting Challenges and New Realities,” the Eleventh Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property. Bali, Indonesia, June 19–23
Hara M (2008) Dilemmas of democratic decentralization in Mangochi district, Malawi: interest and mistrust in fisheries management. Conservation and Society 6:74–86
Hara M, Donda S, Njaya FJ (2002) Lessons from Malawi’s experience with fisheries co-management initiatives. In: Geheb K, Sarch MT (eds) Africa’s inland fisheries: the management challenge. Fountain Publishers, Kampala, pp 31–48
Harris CK, Wiley DS, Wilson DC (1995) Socio-economic impacts of introduced species in Lake Victoria fisheries. In: Pitcher TJ, Hart PJB (eds) The impact of species change in African lakes. Chapman & Hall, London
Hickey S, Mohan G (eds) (2004a) Participation: from tyranny to transformation? Zed Books, London
Hickey S, Mohan G (2004b) Towards participation as transformation: critical themes and challenges. In: Hickey S, Mohan G (eds) Participation: from tyranny to transformation? Zed Books, London
Integrated Marine Management (IMM) (2003) Sustainable coastal livelihoods: policy and coastal poverty in the Western Bay of Bengal, Main Report. DFID Natural Resources Policy Research Programme. IMM Ltd., Exeter
Jentoft S (2003) Co-management: the way forward. In: Wilson DC, Raakjær Nielsen J, Degnbol P (eds) The fisheries co-management experience: accomplishments, challenges and prospects. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht
Jentoft S (2007) In the power of power: the understated aspect of fisheries and coastal management. Human Organization 66:426–437
Jentoft S, Mikalsen KH, Hernes H-K (2003) Representation in fisheries co-management. In: Wilson DC, Raakjær Nielsen J, Degnbol P (eds) The fisheries co-management experience: accomplishments, challenges and prospects. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht
Jul-Larsen E (1994) Migrant fishermen in Congo; tradition and modernity. Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen
Jul-Larsen E (2000) Prolifération des institutions et performance économique: l’accès aux ressources des pêcheurs migrants à Pointe Noire (Congo). In: Chauveau JP, Jul-Larsen E, Chaboud C (eds) Les pêches piroguières en Afrique de L’Ouest: pouvoirs, mobilités, marchés. Editions Karthala. IRD, CMI, Paris, pp 167–203
Kassibo B (2000) Pêche continentale et migration: controle politique et controle social des migration de pêche dans le Delta central du Niger (Mali). In: Chauveau JP, Jul-Larsen E, Chaboud C (eds) Les pêches piroguières en Afrique de L’Ouest: pouvoirs, mobilités, marchés. Editions Karthala. IRD, CMI, Paris, pp 231–246
Leal PA (2007) Participation: the ascendancy of a buzzword in the neo-liberal era. Development in Practice 17:539–548
Luomba J (2007a) A report of the mobile fishers survey carried out in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Mwanza
Luomba J (2007b) A report on fish agents survey in lake Victoria, Tanzania. Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Mwanza
Luomba J, Mhagama F (2007) Report on governance in co-management survey in lake Victoria, Tanzania. Implementation of a fisheries management plan. Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Mwanza
Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) (2007a) Guidelines for Beach Management Units (BMUs) on Lake Victoria. LVFO, Jinja
LVFO (2007b) Guidelines for fisheries co-management on lake Victoria, draft. LVFO, Jinja
LVFO (2007c) Regional synthesis of the 2007 socio-economic monitoring survey of the fishing communities of lake Victoria. Implementation of a fisheries management plan. LVFO, Jinja
LVFO (2008a) The fisheries management plan for lake Victoria 2009 to 2014. LVFO, Jinja
LVFO (2008b) Draft regional synthesis of the 2008 socio-economic monitoring survey of the fishing communities of lake Victoria. Implementation of a fisheries management plan. LVFO, Jinja
LVFO (undated) People in Lake Victoria Fisheries: Livelihoods, Empowerment and Participation. Information Sheet No. 1. LVFO, Jinja
Lwenya C, Yongo E, Abila R (2007a) Mobile fishers: the scale and impact of movement of fishers on fisheries management in Lake Victoria. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kisumu
Lwenya C, Yongo E, Abila R (2007b) A report on fish agents survey: Kenya. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kisumu
Malasha I (2002) The outcome of a co-managerial arrangement in an inland fishery: the case of Lake Kariba (Zambia). In: Geheb K, Sarch MT (eds) Africa’s inland fisheries: the management challenge. Fountain Publishers Ltd., Kampala, pp 89–106
Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG), PMTC, Lamans (2008) Provision of technical services for the implementation of a fisheries management plan for lake Victoria: final report. MRAG, London
Marquette CM, Koranteng KA, Overå R, Aryeetey EB-D (2002) Small-scale fisheries, population dynamics, and resource use in Africa: the case of Moree, Ghana. Ambio 31:324–336
Njaya F, Donda S, Béné C (2012) Analysis of power in fisheries co-management: experiences from Malawi. Society and Natural Resources 25:652–666
Njock J-C, Westlund L (2010) Migration, resource management and global change: experiences from fishing communities in West and Central Africa. Marine Policy 34:752–760
Nunan F (2010) Mobility and fisherfolk livelihoods on Lake Victoria: implications for vulnerability and risk. Geoforum 41:776–785
Odongkara K (2008) Socio-economic fish agent survey on Lake Victoria, Uganda. IFMP Socio-Economic Series 3. National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jinja
Odongkara K, Ntambi B (2007) Investigation of the migratory movements of fishermen on Lake Victoria, Uganda. National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jinja
Odongkara K, Ntambi B, Mbilingi B (2007) Governance in co-management on the Lake Victoria fisheries, Uganda. Implementation of a fisheries management plan. National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jinja
Overå R (2001) Institutions, mobility and resilience in the Fante migratory fisheries of West Africa. Working Paper 2001: 2. Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway
Perry RI, Sumaila UR (2007) Marine ecosystem variability and human community responses: the example of Ghana, West Africa. Marine Policy 31:125–134
Pomeroy RS, Ahmed M (2006) Fisheries and coastal resources co-management in Asia: Selected Results from a Regional Research Project. WorldFish Center Studies and Reviews 30. WorldFish Center, Penang
Pomeroy RS, Katon BM, Harkes I (2001) Conditions affecting the success of co-management: lessons from Asia. Marine Policy 25:197–208
Raakjær Nielsen J, Degnbol P, Viswanathan KK, Ahmed M, Hara M, Abdullah NMR (2004) Fisheries co-management: an institutional innovation? Lessons from South East Asia and Southern Africa. Marine Policy 28:151–160
Randall S (2005) Review of literature on fishing migrations in West Africa: from a Demographic Perspective, Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme. FAO/DFID, Rome
Republic of Kenya (2006) National beach management unit guidelines. Department of Fisheries, Nairobi
Scott J (2001) Power. Polity Press, Cambridge
Sen S, Raakjær Nielsen J (1996) Fisheries co-management: a comparative analysis. Marine Policy 20:405–418
United Republic of Tanzania (2005) National guidelines for beach management units. Fisheries Division, Dar es Salaam
VeneKlasen L, Miller V (2002) Power and empowerment. PLA Notes 43:39–41
Waddington C (2003) Livelihood outcomes of migration for poor people. Working Paper T1. Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex, Brighton
Wilson DC, Raakær Nielsen J, Degnbol P (eds) (2003) The fisheries co-management experience: accomplishments, challenges and prospects. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht
Acknowledgments
This article draws on research undertaken by the authors through the European Union-funded Implementation of a Fisheries Management Plan project (EDF No.8 ACP ROR 029), led by the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO). The authors acknowledge the support of LVFO and the national fisheries research institutes in enabling the study to be carried out and the cooperation of all interviewees and focus group participants. The views presented here are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of LVFO, the service contract partners (Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG) Ltd., PMTC and Lamans), the European Union or the national fisheries departments and research institutes.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nunan, F., Luomba, J., Lwenya, C. et al. Finding Space for Participation: Fisherfolk Mobility and Co-Management of Lake Victoria Fisheries. Environmental Management 50, 204–216 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9881-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9881-y