Exploring the Use of Conceptual Models to Identify

Scenarios, Lessons, and Entry Points for Community-scale Marine Resource

Tenure and Governance

Dr. Catherine Courtney

Tetra Tech, Inc.

Small-scale fisheries…..

Status of World Fisheries

FAO 2012

FAO 2011

World Capture Fisheries Production

Significance of Small-scale Fisheries to Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

Attributes Large-scale Fisheries Small-scale Fisheries

# people employed ~ ½ million > 12 million

Annual tons caught ~ 30 million ~ 30 million

Annual tons fuel ~37 million ~5 million

Annual tons of fish discarded

8 – 20 million Very little

Annual $ in subsidies 25 – 27 billion 5 – 7 billion

Jacquet and Pauly 2008

Explore the conditions under which

community-scale marine resource tenure and governance

contributes to sustainable fisheries, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation

Outline:• Characterize main components of the social-ecological system • Present a conceptual model to diagnose interactions• Explore four scenarios with examples from the literature• Suggest several entry points for strengthening community-scale

marine tenure and governance

Social-Ecological System Framework

Ostrom 2013

Complex Tropical Marine Ecosystems

Green et al 2013

Tropical Multi-species Fishery

Green et al 2013

Complexity of Actors

• Small-scale/artisanal fishers• Large-scale/industrial fishers• Other marine resource users (e.g. oil and

gas, mariculture, tourism)

Complexity of Tenure and Governance Regimes

• Community-scale Tenure and Governance– Customary– Informal– Devolved

• Co-management– Consultative– Delegated– Collaborative

Adapted from Berkes 2010

External/Local Drivers and Threats

• Population growth/ migration

• Coastal development• Land use practices• New technologies• Global trade• Poverty• Global climate change

• Overfishing• Illegal fishing• Habitat destruction• Watershed-based

pollution• Climate change

impacts

Exploring Conceptual Models to Diagnose Interactions and Outcomes

Four Scenarios

• Scenario 1: Community-scale marine resource tenure in a sea of open access

• Scenario 2: Passing the buck through decentralization• Scenario 3: Multiple knowledge sources and scales for

adaptive co-management• Scenario 4: Linked ecological and social vulnerability in

marine resource dependent communities

Scenario 1: Community-scale Marine Tenure in a Sea of Open Access

Tale of Two Coastal Villages in Mexico (Basurto et al. 2012)

• Seri– Indigenous land and

marine tenure rights recognized by government

– Excluded outsiders, established rules

– Fisheries recovered in area under tenure

• Kino– Fish buyers have

control (own permits, gear)

– Fishers employed by buyers

– Overfishing in adjacent areas

Scenario 2: Passing the Buck through Decentralization

Decentralized fisheries management in the Philippines

• National legal framework supports preferential use of nearshore water by small-scale fishers

• Management responsibility over 15 km from the shore decentralized to over 850 municipalities and cities

• Fishers and other local stakeholders serve on advisory bodies to local governments

Perez et al 2012Pomeroy et al 2010

Courtney et al. 2002

Scenario 3: Multiple Knowledge Sources and Scales for Adaptive Co-Management

Adaptive management in customary tenure regimes in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia (Cinner et al. 2006)

Ecosystem-based management in Huave Lagoon, Southern Mexico (Espinoza-Tenerio et al., 2013)

Ecosystem-based management

Transdisciplinary modeling

Traditional ecological knowledge

• Scenarios based on different rule configurations

• Broader social –ecological system processes

• Fine scale delineation of 6 seascapes

Scenario 4: Linked Social-Ecological

Vulnerability in Marine Resource Dependent

Communities

Social-ecological vulnerability in Kenyan coastal communities (Cinner et al. 2013)

• Lower vulnerability in communities with more effective management systems

• Adaptive capacity varied among communities

• One-size-fits-all to adaptation planning unlikely to succeed

Marshal et al. 2012

Entry Points for Strengthening Community-scale Marine Tenure and Governance

Recognize community-scale

tenure rights

Strengthen local institutional

capacity

Develop effective co-management arrangements

Reduce vulnerability of community-scale management of small-scale

fisheries from external drivers

Build knowledge base for

ecosystem-scale processes

Thank you!

For more information on USAID’s Land Tenure and Property Rights Portfolio

Visit:

http://usaidlandtenure.net/