Fisheries governance in beach management units in coastal Kenya

Abstract

The coastal and marine environment of Kenya is very rich in resources upon which millions of people depend on as a source of livelihoods and income. However, factors including overexploitation, pollution, and, more recently, climate change continue to threaten these resources. Drastic depletion of fish stocks and destruction of critical habitats have necessitated coastal fisheries management. Kenya was one of the first developing countries to have legislation for the protection of its marine resources. Fisheries management has been the role of the Government Fisheries Department as stipulated in Fisheries Act (Cap 378), that provides a legal framework for the management, exploitation, and conservation of fisheries in Kenya. For several decades, there has been centralized fisheries management systems, which are mostly topdown with minimum involvement of the local community. This approach has had various challenges, and in many cases, has failed or proven ineffective in promoting long-term sustainability in the fisheries sector. One of the main reasons this approach has failed is that it excluded or limited the participation of resources users in sharing management responsibilities over fisheries resources. The open access nature of the fishery coupled with unemployment has attracted a considerable number of young people, leading to reduced levels of compliance and ineffective controls on exploitation, posing risks to the sustainability of fisheries resources and the livelihoods of those that directly depend on the fisheries. To decentralize fisheries management, Beach Management Units (BMUs) were established in 2007 through the gazettement of the BMU regulations. This was to enhance collaborative management arrangements for fisheries with active community participation. As a result, BMUs and the Fisheries Department have the jurisdiction to comanage the, the activities and legislation within each fish landing site.