The use of GIS for the integration of traditional and scientific knowledge in supporting artisanal fisheries management in southern Brazil

The integration of local harvesters' knowledge of attitudes and practices toward the resources they harvest with scientific information is essential to natural resources management. However, the development and implementation of management policies have, in most cases, not been effective because of a failure to use all available sources of information and knowledge. In fisheries management, local knowledge is usually not collected in a systematic format and little published literature has discussed the use of local knowledge data collection and analysis methods. This paper describes the implementation of geographic information systems to systematize, analyze, and display traditional and scientific information to support fisheries management in the Patos Lagoon Estuary, southern Brazil. Artisanal fishing data were documented through a series of interviews conducted during and after fishing trips at harvest spots, and scientific data on environmental variables were obtained from different research institutions. A multi-layer GIS database integrating local fishers' and scientific knowledge information was developed with ArcGIS 8.3 ArcView tools to integrate and translate information into an accessible and interpretable format. The geo-spatial database interface allowed the selection of specific data characteristics by target species, harvest areas, fishers' communities, fishing gear, catch-per-unit of effort (CPUE), and monthly landings. The observed fishing spatial dynamics presented among the fishers' communities shows that, in most cases, artisanal fishermen tend to concentrate in shallow estuarine waters surrounding their villages.     

Effectiveness of participatory planning for community management of fisheries in Bangladesh

This study provides statistical evidence that support for community-based management of resources was more effective when initiated through a process known as participatory action plan development (PAPD). Thirty-six sites were studied where community management of fisheries was facilitated by NGOs. All involved community participation and establishing local fisheries management institutions. However, communities were able to take up more conservation-related interventions and faced fewer conflicts in the 18 sites where a PAPD was the basis for collective action and institution development. This indicates the value and effectiveness of adopting good practice in participatory planning, such as PAPD, which helps diverse stakeholders find common problems and solutions for natural resource management.     

Assessing local knowledge use in agroforestry management with cognitive maps

Small-holder farmers often develop adaptable agroforestry management techniques to improve and diversify crop production. In the cocoa growing region of Ghana, local knowledge on such farm management holds a noteworthy role in the overall farm development. The documentation and analysis of such knowledge use in cocoa agroforests may afford an applicable framework to determine mechanisms driving farmer preference and indicators in farm management. This study employed 12 in-depth farmer interviews regarding variables in farm management as a unit of analysis and utilized cognitive mapping as a qualitative method of analysis. Our objectives were (1) to illustrate and describe agroforestry management variables and associated farm practices, (2) to determine the scope of decision making of individual farmers, and (3) to investigate the suitability of cognitive mapping as a tool for assessing local knowledge use. Results from the cognitive maps revealed an average of 16 ± 3 variables and 19 ± 3 links between management variables in the farmer cognitive maps. Farmer use of advantageous ecological processes was highly central to farm management (48% of all variables), particularly manipulation of organic matter, shade and food crop establishment, and maintenance of a tree stratum as the most common, highly linked variables. Over 85% of variables included bidirectional arrows, interpreted as farm management practices dominated by controllable factors, insofar as farmers indicated an ability to alter most farm characteristics. Local knowledge use on cocoa production revealed detailed indicators for site evaluation, thus affecting farm preparation and management. Our findings suggest that amid multisourced information under conditions of uncertainty, strategies for adaptable agroforestry management should integrate existing and localized management frameworks and that cognitive mapping provides a tool-based approach to advance such a management support system.     

Sustaining appearances: sustainable development and the fisheries of Lake Victoria

The fisheries of Lake Victoria have undergone a major transformation over the last three decades. The character of the lake has been subject to the influence of many powerful factors including: substantial increases in fishing effort; growing integration into the global fish market; acceleration of anthropogenic activities in the catchment area; demographic change; the influence of adverse shifts in the climate; and introduction of exotic plant and animal species. The task of managing the lake's resources, therefore, has never been more daunting. This article argues that, in most cases, the authorities charged with achieving the goal of sustainable development for the fishery, have failed to address the symptoms—let alone the origins—of the current unsustainable tendencies embedded in the social, economic and political fabric of Lake Victoria's riparian States. It is these factors that directly impinge upon the success of management initiatives for the lake. The article argues that if sustainable development is to be achieved, then stakeholders must act in concert, eliminate unsustainable practices and reprogramme development plans to focus on realistic goals. A possible way forward will be to develop a participatory management system.     

The extraction and utilization of local and scientific geospatial knowledge within the Bluff oyster fishery, New Zealand

This paper assesses the Bluff oyster fishery in New Zealand as a case study in common pool resource management. It discusses ways in which modern information technology, augmented by low-tech data gathering strategies and community ethnography, can be used to produce an integrated scientific and local knowledge-inspired fishery database that lends itself to fostering collaboration in resource management and planning. The specific context and state of the oyster fishery in Bluff are described. Issues regarding undocumented and ephemeral intergenerational knowledge, much of which is geospatial in nature, on the fishery, the current crisis that many see in the future of the fishery, and a lack of cohesion or common sense of purpose between the stakeholder groups are discussed. It is argued that the digital resource that results from the integration of local and scientific knowledge and the potential community building processes that can ensue from collaboration and dialogue around this centrepiece are of central importance in developing an oyster fishery management plan that is holistic in concept and sustainable in purpose.     

Resource scarcity,energy use and environmental impact: A case study of the New Bedford,Massachusetts, USA,fisheries

The commercial fishing fleet in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA, harvests seafood on George’s Bank, home of one of the nation’s most productive fisheries. We calculated the energy return on investment (EROI) and carbon intensity of protein harvest in the New Bedford fisheries from 1968 to 1988. EROI is the ratio of the energy content of the edible fish protein harvested to the quantity of fossil fuel energy used directly in the harvesting process. Carbon intensity is the quantity of carbon dioxide (CO₂) released (from the burning of fossil fuels) per calorie of edible fish protein harvested. The results show that the EROI of protein harvest declined from 0.18 to 0.028 from 1968 to 1988, indicating that the energy used to harvest seafood increased from about 6 to 36 kcal of fuel for each kilocalorie of protein harvested. The quantity of CO₂ released per calorie of edible fish protein is a linear function of energy use and therefore increased in a similar manner. During this period there was a large increase in fishing effort (caused by the increase in the real price of seafood products, favorable tax treatment for new vessel construction, and low interest loans from the government), and a decline in several important species of fish. The results suggest that fishing pressure could be managed effectively by the regulation of fuel use by the fleet. Despite the increase in the price of many seafood products, fishermen absorbed many of the costs of increasing scarcity in the form of longer working hours and fewer men per vessel.     

Opportunities for landowner participation in local planning

Much has been written on public participation in local planning but very little on the involvement of landowners. This is despite the clear financial motives which encourage many landowners to participate in the local planning process. The paper demonstrates how in one case in West Yorkshire, an important historic landowner was able to exert a substantial influence on the pattern of land use allocations in an adopted local plan. Although the particular characteristics of the case study may not be found elsewhere, it helps to identify how more substantial research in this often neglected area might proceed.     

The implications of ecosystem dynamics for fisheries management: a case study of selected fisheries in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad

It is accepted that if fisheries resources are to remain renewable and able to sustain livelihoods, appropriate management practices must be implemented. Even while fisheries management grapples to resolve single-species issues, the biological and economic interactions among species mandate that to be effective, management techniques must be based on more interactive and aggregate-level analyses. In order to implement these techniques, the actual links, and the potential impact of these links, among the fisheries must be established. Vector autoregression (VAR) analysis has the potential to play an increasingly important role in ecosystem modelling for fisheries management. This study uses VAR analysis to demonstrate the quantitative impact of certain ecosystem changes on the productivity of the carite, honey shrimp and croaker fisheries of the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad, in the particular context of the ecosystem dynamics of trophic linkages, bycatch and multispecies fisheries. Four VAR models are constructed to investigate the extent to which these factors affect the production of the selected fisheries, and to evaluate the management implications of these linkages. The empirical analysis is further evidence that, if sustainable management of fishery resources is to be achieved, management practices based on more multi-species, ecosystem approaches must replace the traditional, single-species management techniques.     

The failure of success in fisheries management

Law of the Sea negotiations and The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 create new options in fisheries management. Historical analysis of two major management programs in the United States of America, Columbia River chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), shows two unresolved management problems. One is the innovativeness of fishermen in seeking ways to improve their harvests. The other is changing social priorities that are largely unpredictable and outside the control of fisheries managers. A method for analysis of patterning associated with management goals is illustrated. Since the general management goals are harvest improvement and more predictability, measures are used which show the adequacy of fit and reduction in variability between actual and predicted management outcomes.     

Rights and Conflicts in the Management of Fisheries in the Lower Songkhram River Basin,Northeast Thailand

A complex, pre-existing local property rights system, characterized by overlap and conflict, comprises the local basis for managing inland fisheries in communities of the Lower Songkhram River Basin (LSRB) of Northeastern Thailand. The components, conflicts and changes of the system are analyzed for fourteen communities, focusing on the auction system for barrages, an illegal and destructive, yet tolerated, fishery. These rights, adapted to gear type, seasonality, and habitat of the LSRB fisheries, are a critical social resource and proven management system that should be legitimized. Recommendations are made for both improving general inland fisheries policy and reforming the barrage fishery.     

Demonstration of GIS Capabilities for Fisheries Management Decisions: Analysis of Acquisition Potential Within the Meramec River Basin

/ Geographic information systems (GIS) allow users to explore possible spatial relations that may exist within their data. At the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), GIS data is being used to help make management decisions. Thirteen geographic data layers of the Meramec River Basin, Missouri, were used to help demonstrate the usefulness of GIS for making fisheries management decisions. The data were used to help identify potential acquisition areas within the Meramec River Basin. The basin was separated into 22 strata based on ecoregion boundaries, watershed boundaries, and stream order. Suitability for acquisition was determined for each stratum based on species richness, habitat characteristics, percent of public land, and number of human impacts, such as gravel and ore mining. Eleven strata scored high enough to be recommended as potential acquisition areas. After further evaluation of the 11 strata, three were chosen as areas where available land and willing sellers should be considered. Four strata needed more sampling before land within them should be considered for acquisition. The final four were considered low priority because there was already a considerable amount of public land present in the strata. The analysis was helpful in allowing managers to focus in on a smaller area for acquisition consideration; 91% of the area was eliminated from the analysis. Instead of having to survey every parcel of land that becomes available, parcels that don't fall within the recommended strata can be eliminated without further investigation.     

Flood risk management in Dutch local spatial planning practices

Spatial planning is increasingly regarded as an important instrument to reduce flood consequences. Nevertheless, there are very few studies that show why local planning authorities do or do not systematically use spatial planning in advance to mitigate flood risks. This paper explores flood reduction strategies in local planning practices in the Netherlands. It also explores why spatial planning was or was not used to reduce flood consequences. The arguments for the use or non-use of planning mainly referred to requirements from other governmental bodies and the perceived role and the related responsibility of local planning authorities, previous disaster experience, and previous experience with spatial planning for flood risk management.     

Comparative capitalism and sustainable development: Stakeholder capitalism and co-management in the Kenyan fisheries sub sector

This paper argues that stakeholder capitalism is more appropriate to natural resource management and rural development in Africa than other varieties of capitalism. It examines different management arrangements in Kenyan Lake Victoria fisheries resources to argue that whilst stakeholder capitalism is still far from being the mainstream model of capitalism in Kenya, theoretically and empirically, it is more appropriate to sustainable development than the Anglo‐Saxon variety of capitalism that the country inherited from its British colonizers. The paper demonstrates that the concepts of ownership and management rights are social, economic and political constructs that are continuously contested, with huge implications for sustainable development and natural resource management.     

The common property resource problem and the fisheries of Barbados and Jamaica

Common property resources (CPR) tend to be particularly susceptible to depletion and degredation. This creates problems for sustainable development and for resource stewardship in general since many of the key global resources are common property. The article explores the different definitions of CPR and the traps associated with the harvesting of CPR without understanding the social, economic, and environmental costs related to their exploitation. The commons problem may be approached in terms of a private property solution, the allocation of individual quotas to fishermen, or a communal property solution in which communities of fishermen basically manage their own fisheries. The offshore fishery of Barbados lends itself to the private property solution, and the inshore fishery of Jamaica, to the communal property solution.Drawing from case studies of Jamaica and Barbados fisheries, four principles of CPR use are proposed: (a) the solution of the CPR problem starts with the control of access to the resource, (b) increasing production from a CPR depends on the conservation of the resource base, (c) the sustainable utilization of a CPR is closely connected to the use of technology appropriate for the harvest, and (d) local-level management improves prospects for the sustainable use of a CPR. The case studies illustrate that there may be local, national, and international levels of interest over the resource. Hence, the successful management of such resources as Barbados and Jamaica fisheries requires that conflicting demands for the resources be taken into account, perhaps using a cooperative management approach.     

Assessing and improving management practices when planning packaging waste collection systems

Packaging waste collection systems are responsible to collect, within a geographic area, three types of packaging materials (paper, glass and plastic/metal) that are disposed by the final consumer into special bins. Those systems are often characterized by having a network with multiple depots that act as transfer and sorting stations, and where the vehicle fleet is based. However, each depot is often managed independently and not as a part of a unique system. In this work, four current tactical/operational practices that contribute to the independent management of each depot are analysed. The change of such practices is investigated and their impact assessed on the total collection cost. A solution methodology based on mathematical formulations is developed to plan service areas, vehicle routes and vehicle schedules taking into account new alternative solutions in managing the system as a whole. Such methodology is applied to a real case study of a company responsible for the collection of the packaging waste in 7 municipalities in mainland Portugal. New service areas, collection routes and vehicle schedules are defined and significant savings are obtained in terms of the total distance travelled as well as in terms of the number of required vehicles, resulting in a decreasing of the total system cost.     

A conceptual framework of agricultural land use planning with BMP for integrated watershed management

Land use planning is an important element of the integrated watershed management approach. It not only influences the environmental processes such as soil and stream bed erosion, sediment and nutrient concentrations in streams, quality of surface and ground waters in a watershed, but also affects social and economic development in that region. Although its importance in achieving sustainable development has long been recognized, a land use planning methodology based on a systems approach involving realistic computational modeling and meta-heuristic optimization is still lacking in the current practice of integrated watershed management. The present study proposes a new approach which attempts to combine computational modeling of upland watershed processes, fluvial processes and modern heuristic optimization techniques to address the water-land use interrelationship in its full complexity. The best land use allocation is decided by a multi-objective function that minimizes sediment yields and nutrient concentrations as well as the total operation/implementation cost, while the water quality and the production benefits from agricultural exploitation are maximized. The proposed optimization strategy considers also the preferences of land owners. The runoff model AnnAGNPS (developed by USDA), and the channel network model CCHE1D (developed by NCCHE), are linked together to simulate sediment/pollutant transport process at watershed scale based on any assigned land use combination. The greedy randomized adaptive Tabu search heuristic is used to flip the land use options for finding an optimum combination of land use allocations. The approach is demonstrated by applying it to a demonstrative case study involving USDA Goodwin Creek experimental watershed located in northern Mississippi. The results show the improvement of the tradeoff between benefits and costs for the watershed, after implementing the proposed optimal land use planning.     

Developing a framework for integrating local and scientific knowledge in internationally funded environment management projects: case studies from Kien Giang Province,Vietnam

Local and scientific knowledge, when adequately and properly integrated, produces enormous benefits for natural resource management in comparison to a single knowledge system being used. Adequate and proper integration has major constraints that include ineffective use of the integrated knowledge, thoroughly inclusive processes, and true public participation. A six-stage framework is developed using the results and conclusions of two case studies regarding sustainable management of eroding mangrove-dominated muddy coasts in Vam Ray, Hon Dat district, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. The framework does not stop with the creation of integrated knowledge, but should undergo a longer process. The new knowledge developed in this framework is the understanding gained and lessons learnt during the testing of products of multiple knowledge systems in a local context rather than products of integrated knowledge systems themselves. The Vam Ray framework promotes a high level of participation, effective use of products of multiple knowledge systems, maximum integration of local and scientific knowledge, local ownership, and sustainability. Therefore, the Vam Ray framework adds a new dimension to the literature in relation to integration of local and scientific knowledge in natural resource management.     

The future of local planning and development control

This paper examines the various pressures for state action in respect of land use and environmental management. It then considers the processes through which these pressures are currently being articulated into policies and actions. A brief assessment of the effectiveness of local planning practice follows and then the paper considers the questions which should be addressed in land use and environmental issues in the UK.     

Patterns of selectiveness in the Amazonian freshwater fisheries: implications for management

Tropical fisheries, which are considered multi-species, may show selectiveness. We analyzed the degree of selectivity of fish catches in 46 sites along the Amazon basin through the percentage of biomass corresponding to the most caught fish species. Amazonian fisheries were considered moderately selective, as 54% of the sites directed more than a quarter of fishing effort to one fish species and in 87% of the sites more than half the fishing effort was directed to five fish species. Commercial fisheries were more selective than subsistence fisheries. Eleven fish species (nine of them migratory) have received more fishing pressure in the studied Amazonian regions and the catch composition differed among regions. We thus recommend that fisheries management in the Amazon basin should distribute fishing effort among more fish species; incorporate the particularities of commercial and subsistence fisheries; evaluate fishing effects on ecosystem services; and consider the biological characteristics of preferred fish.