The spatial behaviour of artisanal fishers: Implications for fisheries management and development (Fishers in Space)Final Report December 2011

Abstract

The ways that fishers distribute their fishing effort over a fishing ground can affect the ecological impacts on and the economic performance of fisheries. This distribution can be influenced by a number of social, economic, and institutional factors such as technology, management, and fishers‟ knowledge. Many fisheries development and management interventions invariably alter the spatial distribution of fishing effort. Success of interventions such as protected areas and attempts to encourage fishing effort to move offshore often rest on largely untested assumptions about fishers‟ spatial behaviour, and their willingness or ability to change it. Thus, understanding spatial distribution of fishing effort is increasingly recognised as an important consideration for fisheries management. However, the spatial behaviour of fishers is poorly understood, especially in artisanal, developing country fisheries. The vast majority of research into fishers‟ spatial behaviour has been conducted in large-scale fisheries, which are able to make use of data rich vessel monitoring systems that are frequently installed in many fishing vessels. In developing countries, however, these vessel monitoring systems are not used and little empirical work has been done to explore fishers‟ spatial behaviour. This study used a mixed-methods approach to understand the diverse factors influencing artisanal fishers‟ spatial behaviour and investigate evidence for perceived or realised „spillover‟ benefits to fishers of MPAs. A structured survey and a participatory effort mapping and catch monitoring program in Seychelles and Kenya yielded data on spatial behaviour, factors affecting decision-making, and spatial patterns in fisheries adjacent and not adjacent to MPAs.