Tragedy of the inland lakes

Abstract

Increased pressure on communal fishing grounds is testing the traditional regulations among fishing communities who should preserve inland waters' productive capacity and ecological values. Inland lakes in Benin are a typical case in point. With the mounting number of fisherfolk and pollution from densely populated urban areas the threat of overfishing and water degradation looms large. This paper questions whether customary rules of fishing communities can cope with current and future challenges. A survey among 839 fisherfolk found that agreements to control shared waters are virtually absent and remain unmonitored while mistrust and loss of faith in community members and government institutions result in low levels of organization. It is alarming to note the high incidence of conflicts that end violently, the prevailing food insecurity and a high illiteracy rate limiting employment to low-paid wage labour. Solutions to identified constraints go beyond the individual, requiring collective action and a platform where fishing communities can take matters into their own hands to avert a tragedy of the inland waters.

Factors Influencing Small-Scale Fishers’ Individual Perceived Wellbeing Satisfaction in Southern Benin

“…Moreover, the absence of the co-management of property rights with government does not favour the sustainable management of fishing ecosystems in southern Benin. These results are similar to those of Sonneveld et al [11] who demonstrated that fishing boundaries are not defined in southern Benin. Furthermore, the authors underline that there is no joint responsibility for resources governance in fishing areas of southern Benin as required by Ostrom's eight prerequisites for the sustainable and equitable development of common resources.…”

“…Despite this ban, the selection of locations for its implementation is governed by agreements between individuals, fishing communities, local authorities, but with very little public structure. This raises the low level of cooperation between fishers and public governance institutions [11].…”

“…It generates about 600,000 jobs, provides nearly 30% of the total amount of the consumed animal protein [8], and has represented a major source of income for vulnerable fishing communities throughout generations. The historical settlement around water bodies in the study area of indigenous communities (Pedah, Pla, Goun, and Aïzo) since the 15th century has given rise to the governance by traditional standards of the property rights of fisheries [9][10][11][12]. Traditional property rights are therefore transferred from one generation to the next and ownership of Acadja (Acadja looks like a fishing pond and is built by placing wooden branches in the lake and fencing them with fishing nets) is considered a right by the owners [11].…”

“…The historical settlement around water bodies in the study area of indigenous communities (Pedah, Pla, Goun, and Aïzo) since the 15th century has given rise to the governance by traditional standards of the property rights of fisheries [9][10][11][12]. Traditional property rights are therefore transferred from one generation to the next and ownership of Acadja (Acadja looks like a fishing pond and is built by placing wooden branches in the lake and fencing them with fishing nets) is considered a right by the owners [11]. As result, there is a density of 117 fishers per km 2 which is ten times higher compared to standard in such environments [13].…”

Temporal Dynamics of Fish Assemblages as a Reflection of Policy Shift from Fishing Concession to Co-Management in One of the World’s Largest Tropical Flood Pulse Fisheries

“…In other words, fishing lot abolishment created an open-access situation, where fishers harvested as much as possible, on the "first come, first served principle" without considering the collective negative effects on fish stocks, resulting in fishing down the food web or a recent indiscriminate fishing effect [7,49]. A similar situation has been described for many inland lakes around the world, leading to what has been termed "the tragedy of the inland lakes" [69]. Moreover, the declines are in part explained by the floodplain habitat alteration because substantial changes in land cover were observed recently during the ALA period, (e.g., decrease in scrubland, grassland, and flooded forest cover but increase in agricultural land), and flooded forest areas were shifted to woody savannah, grassland, and permanent wetland [31,[70][71][72].…”