Mogens Schou Partner at www.aquamind.dk [email protected] +45 22610575 http://www.linkedin.com/in/mogensschou |
How we use our natural capital will define the health of our globe and the wealth we derive from it. I work with sustainable fisheries management based on the following concept:
The three tiers of fisheries management, generating wealth from our natural capital Keeping the three overarching principles for sound fisheries management in focus will provide important answers for the policy maker before he plunges into the complex of fisheries management. The first principle of full accountability entails that the fisher must be accountable for what he harvest and for the ecosystem effects resulting from his fishery. TAC/quotas and other impact limits on the ecosys temshould be observed to the point by the individual fisherman or fishing community. He must account for all catches and ecosystem effects such as bottom impact from trawling must be kept within agreed limits. What and how much to harvest and setting limits to ecosystem impacts is a public responsibility. How to harvest is a responsibility that must be transferred to the individual fisherman or fishing community. This principle of Result Based Management or Output Management is based on the notion that management should be decentralised to the lowest appropriate level to obtain effectiveness and equity as decisions will pertain to the interests directly involved. Free choice of gear and method will lead to innovation and a win for the most effective fisher. Transferability of Fishing Concessions is the necessary solution to the problem of matching catches with quotas, especially in mixed fisheries. Variability in catch luck must be reflected in quota flexibility to avoid overfishing and discards or closure of fisheries due to lack of quota. Transferability may also allow the most efficient fisher to obtain quotas thereby generating wealth for the society. It will normally lead to ownership concentration and it may lead to non-fisher ownership of fishing rights. Proper design of individually or community based TFC systems will balance trade offs. As our western market based economies delivers a high return to societal development and redistribution, so may a market based TFC system offer support for small scale fisheries and other societal priorities that govern. Management of fisheries, it be public or private, is based on knowledge and innovation. Knowledge building must be seen as decisive in a supply chain approach with management, operation and market placement. |