This brief describes the results of the recently completed Fisheries Management Research Programme impact assessment. It outlines the approach taken to impact assessment, provides some examples of the impacts achieved and highlights some of the lessons learned about achieving positive developmental impact through a research Programme.

Lake most other coastal water bodies around the world, this Thailand's largest bay on the Andaman seaboard has suffered the similar plights that have led to serious deterioration of coastal resources over the years. Despite its natural wealth derived from the fertile watershed and tropical climatic settings, Thailand's modern economic policies, began in 1960, have partly contributed to heavy exploitation, sometimes with destructive and indiscriminate fishing gears, resulting in a rapid decline in fish and invertebrate standing crops. Under the control of State, all fishing grounds are subject to legal measures issued primarily under the 1947 Fishery Act where fishery patrol workforce has confronted the persistent illegal fishers who have taken control by their sheer number. The government has also implemented the resource restoration measures, e.g. artificial reef placement, closed season, and closed area. The impacts on marine fisheries of marine shrimp farming that has occupied the increasing acreage along the fertile shoreline have been noted, as it closely links to other aquacultural practices, particularly those in and around the Bay. Attempting to take control in this difficult game of number, Thailand adopted community-based fishery management in the 1960s with a design for people to control people. The 1947 Consitution has helped accelerated the administrative devolution and much of the centrally controlled muasures have since 2003 come under the provincial administration, headed by the more powerful governor CEO. The speedier countermeasures against illegal fshing, by local communities and governor CEO, have proved to be effective, and Phang Nga Bay in the past two years can be said to recover-almost disappearance of destructive fishing, and reappearance of some fish species, e.g. Hilsa, certain dolphins, and dugong. All these have paved a solid foundation for further co-management where all key stakeholders share decision-making and implementing their plans toward achieving their common goals. The 5-year Coastal Habitats and Coastal Resources Management (CHARM) project, co-funded by Royal Thai Government and the European Union has been devising and implementing this concept since November 2002, fortunately with some promising results. Andaman Triangle Network, a recently established coastal resource conservation group comprising relevant government departments, NGOs, and community leaders, has been active in the three provinces bordering Phang Nga Bay. What the ATN has been advocating is the co-management approach, which is intended to replace the centrally management regime, the failure of which has been evidenced by the widespread deterioration of coastal resources.

Fisheries are in a state of crisis throughout the world. While there has been some success, truly effective fisheries management seems beyond our grasp. The knowledge needed for proper management contains a broad array of facts and connections from statistical stock assessments, to the information that allows government agencies to track compliance with rules and beyond. This book describes the state-of-the-art knowledge about fishery systems. Seldom seen in a scientific publication regarding fisheries science, this book presents a multidisciplinary perspective of fisheries management. Leading fisheries scholars with backgrounds in biology, ecology, economics and sociology ask how management institutions can learn and put their lessons to use. The Knowledge Base for Fisheries Management offers a unique overview of the world of fisheries management and provides the background to draw conclusions of what is needed to improve management. Covering a wide range of regimes, case studies and professional perspectives, this publication will be an obliged reference to anyone involved on fisheries management, assessment, policy making or fisheries development all over the world. * The only book on the market that analyzes fisheries in a biological, sociological and economic way * Fills a gap, focusing not only on the production of knowledge for fisheries management but also on how it is used in all steps of the management system and the decision making processes * Focuses on the hot topic: scientific knowledge and society-science based policies * Documents disseminated research from many different management systems, both European and world wide.

The Steller sea lion (SSL) population in Alaska was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1990. At that time, several procedural restrictions were placed on the commercial fisheries of the region in an effort to reduce the potential for human‐induced mortality on sea lions. Several years have elapsed since these restrictions were put into place, and questions about their efficacy remain. In an effort to determine whether or not fisheries management measures have helped the SSL population to recover, estimates of the fishing activity of the Bering Sea/Gulf of Alaska commercial fisheries in the vicinity of individual SSL rookeries and SSL population trends at those rookeries were made using data from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Fisheries Observer Program and Steller Sea Lion Adult Count Database. Fisheries data from 1976–2000 were analyzed in relation to SSL population counts from 1956–2001 at 32 rookeries from the endangered western stock. Linear regression on the principal components of the fisheries data show that a positive correlation exists between several metrics of historical fishing activity and the SSL population decline. The relationship is less consistent after 1991, supporting a hypothesis that management measures around some of the rookeries have been effective in moderating the localized effects of fishing activity on SSL.

This report reviews the factors that trigger fish migration in the Mekong River and other tropical freshwater river systems. It aims to provide a basis for understanding the consequences of human intervention to the natural flow regime of the river system on fish migration and thereby on the fisheries of the Lower Mekong Basin. The report comprises two parts. It begins with a systematic review of the published information on migration triggers and cues in the Mekong River system and in other tropical rivers worldwide. This part includes a discussion of other associated issues, such as spawning triggers, which should also be taken into account when dealing with Mekong fish migrations and management. The second part of the report presents a quantitative analysis of the environmental factors that trigger the migration of Mekong species. This section is based on a merger of FishBase 2004 with the Mekong Fish Database, and covers the entire population of 768 Mekong species held within FishBase. The merged data set includes biological data and coded ecological information for all of these species. The results are supplemented by an analysis of data from a recently published study of migration patterns and hydrological triggers at the Khone Falls (Southern Lao PDR).

The coastal waters of Japan have a wide diversity of fisheries resources. This poses a great challenge in terms of management. Therefore this study was aimed at outlining the fisheries resources and its management in the coastal area of Futami District in Iyo city. The fisheries production in the coastal waters of Futami as well as the number of boats and fishermen is on the decline. This might be attributed to aging of the fishermen and environmental degradation. However in terms of fisheries management, it can be said that Futami has a good fisheries management system as evidenced by the organization and operations of its Kaminada Fisheries Cooperative Association (FCA). The management has been successful because the fisheries management has always been community-centred and there is a proper legal framework supporting the community-based system. Fishing rights are well defined and assigned to the FCA to manage. All the fishermen belong to FCA which acts as both a management body as well as a marketing body. Good support system like insurance and credit system has made it possible for the FCA to be successful. The successful fisheries management system in Futami shows that local communities can manage fisheries resources properly with proper legal and organizational support. This community based-management system is the most sustainable way of managing fisheries resource.

This paper focuses on the importance of accountable governance arrangements to successfully manage high seas fisheries. It proposes replacing the current right of open access to high seas fisheries with defined property rights issued to nation states and managed within a governance framework designed to optimise environmental and economic outcomes from the use of high seas fisheries. We propose that the high seas freedom to fish be transformed to a right to share in the net wealth generated from sustainable harvest of high seas fisheries. Management of high seas fisheries should ensure that: (i) all nations have a right to benefit from high seas fisheries, (ii) all harvesting is environmentally sustainable, (iii) fisheries resources are used efficiently, and (iv) management agencies are accountable. Rather than relying on the cooperation of nations through regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs), we suggest the establishment of accountable management organisations of which nations are beneficial owners. The paper presents a proposal we hope will prompt discussion and further research on alternative governance arrangements to achieve sustainable management of high seas fisheries.

Coral reefs in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve (KMNR) (40o 07’ E, 2o 00’ S) are located in a transition ecotone between the warmer East African coral reef bioregion to the south, and colder waters of the Somali Current to the north. The reefs have been monitored annually from 1998 to the present, documenting a range of ecosystem changes from large and small scale threats. Reefs in the area suffered ˜60% loss of coral cover due to mass bleaching in the 1998 El Niño event, and 25-40% loss of coral species at individual site levels. Recovery of coral community structure has been variable, with some reefs showing strong recovery, while others have declined further. A harmful algal bloom and coral disease in early 2002 further impacted these reefs, causing mass mortalities of fish and coral, and failure of coral recruitment in that year. Fishing impacts to the reserve are high, with a strong south-north decline in fish density due to easier access to the migrant and large fishing communities to the south of the reserve. Responsibility for management of the KMNR falls under multiple institutions, including the Kenya Wildlife Service, Fisheries and Forestry Departments, and the local council. Overlapping mandates, unclear relationships, limited information and understanding, and lack of resources have hampered effective management. The monitoring programme reported here is one aspect of new collaborative appro aches to coral reef and fisheries management, and has focused on improving the information and understanding of the biological and resource systems of the area. The ecosystem trends induced by larger scale threats and the south-north fish resource gradient caused by local use patterns will be analyzed in an attempt to develop sustainable management practices for the reserve. | Published