Tight coupling to ecosystems and dependence on common-pool resources threaten fisheries and aquaculture.

No abstract

Addressing global fisheries overexploitation requires better understanding of how small-scale fishing communities in developing countries limit access to fishing grounds. We analyze the performance of a system based on individual licenses and a common property-rights regime in their ability to generate incentives for self-governance and conservation of fishery resources. Using a qualitative beforeafter-control-impact approach, we compare two neighbouring fishing communities in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Both were initially governed by the same permit system, are situated in the same ecosystem, use similar harvesting technology, and have overharvested similar species. One community changed to a common property-right regime, enabling the emergence of access controls and avoiding overexploitation of benthic resources, while the other community, still relies on the permit system. We discuss the roles played by power, institutions, socio-historic, and biophysical factors to develop access controls.

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Miguel Fernando Lavín (1951, a pioneer of the PANGAS initiative who dedicated his life to advance the field of oceanography in Mexico. He was a visionary who connected oceanographers, marine conservationists, and fisheries managers. IntroductIonSmall-scale fisheries contribute about half of global fish catches, or two-thirds when considering catches destined for direct human consumption (FAO 2014). Small-scale fisheries play an important role in food security and nutrition, poverty alleviation, equitable development, and sustainable use of natural resources, providing nutritious food for local, national, and international markets. More than 90% of the world's fishers and fish workers (those who work in pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest activities, including trade) are employed by small-scale endeavors that underpin local economies in coastal, lakeshore, and riparian ecosystems. This, in turn, generates multiplier economic effects in other sectors (FAO 2014). These activities may be a recurrent sideline undertaking or become especially important in times of financial difficulty. Small-scale fisheries represent a diverse and dynamic sector, often

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is the frontrunner in fisheries certification, receiving both extensive support and strong criticisms. The increasing uptake by fisheries and markets (almost 10% of world fisheries tonnage engaged by the end of 2014) has been followed by a widening pool of stakeholders interacting with the MSC. However, the applicability of the MSC approach for fisheries in the developing world (DW) remains doubtful, reinforced by a worldwide uptake skewed towards developed world fisheries. Here, a group of MSC stakeholders, with the aid of an ad-hoc questionnaire survey, reviews constraints to MSC certification in DW fisheries, evaluates solutions put forward by the MSC, and recommends actions to improve MSC uptake by DW fisheries. Recommendations to the MSC include researching and benchmarking suitable data-limited assessment methods, systematizing and making readily available the experiences of certified fisheries worldwide and constructing specific fisheries capacity-building for regional leaders. The MSC can further review the certification cost, especially for small-scale fisheries and, in partnership with other institutions, mobilize a fund to support specific DW fishery types. This fund could also support the development of market opportunities and infrastructures likely to satisfy local conditions and needs. For wider market intervention, the MSC should consider embarking on some form of vertical differentiation. Finally, for fisheries that may never move towards certification, the group identifies tools and experience available at MSC that can improve environmental performance and governance bearing.