An analysis of recent fisheries co-management practices on Lombok Island using an adapted Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework

Growing evidence of co-operation among resource users to create and maintain local institutions for common pool resource management challenges the assumption that common pool resources (CPRs) such as fisheries are doomed to overexploitation and conflict unless they are (fully) privatized or state managed. For the last two decades, in fisheries management literature there has been growing consensus that co-management arrangements, based on collaboration between government and communities, are more appropriate in order to conserve fisheries resources and to promote socio-economic well-being. Most of the coastal fisheries in Indonesia are over fished and the coastal ecosystems are degraded. Many poor coastal communities dependent on fishing are suffering as a consequence. To address these related concerns, coastal communities in some parts of Indonesia have recently taken initiatives to exercise a greater role in the management of coastal fisheries. The objective of this study is to critically examine the recent development of co-management practices for managing reef fisheries on Lombok Island, Indonesia. The study is based on two recently developed community-based co-management initiatives seeking to forge partnerships with government fisheries agencies to manage reef fisheries resources in Lombok. The LMNLU, Lembaga Musyawarah Nelayan Lombok Utara (North Lombok Fishers Consultative Council) is located on the northwest coast of Lombok and the KPPL Komite Pengelolaan Perikanan Laut (Marine Fisheries Management Committee) is situated in Jukung, Ekas and Serewe bays in the southeast. The description and analysis of the above two recent initiatives is structured within the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The IAD framework has been developed by researchers to analyse institutional arrangements of the management of CPRs. The IAD framework enables a study of the inter-relationships among contextual variables, incentives for stakeholders to co-operate, patterns of interaction amongst stakeholders, and the ensuing outcomes. The analysis of the two case studies in Lombok is situated in the wider context of the recent changes in the Indonesian political-administration system from the New Order regime (1966-1998) to the Reform government (1998-present). The former regime was based on a centralised top down policy approach while the current regime is based on a devolved framework. This change is reflected in changes in management of costal and marine fisheries in Indonesia which is shifting towards increased community participatory approaches. Within the Lombok context, decentralization reforms provide an opportunity to harness the potential for co-management practices to more effectively address fisheries sustainability concerns, using community-based rules or awig-awig. The research findings lead to the conclusion that there are factors facilitating and inhibiting the progress of co-management in Lombok, but that it is worth pursuing in Indonesia and, in principle, elsewhere in Southeast Asian fisheries. A number of recommendations are made to enhance the possibility of success.