Managing biodiversity in traditional and small-scale fisheries

Examples from traditional and small-scale fisheries indicate that:

• sustainable management is possible under three general kinds of management regimes: private property; state property and communal property;
  
• examples of successful community-based fisheries and marine resources are found in many cultures and areas around the world;
  
• two necessary conditions for successful community-based resource management are the ability to limit access of outsiders and to make and enforce rules among community mem-bers;
  
• conservation by self-interested users of a resource may be the most robust approach to sustainability. Incentives for users to conserve must, therefore, be built into any fishery management plan including traditional community-based approaches;
  
• usful tools are - wide range of customary laws, treaties, acts, laws and regulations in-cluding community-enforced rules regarding the use of gear, times when fishing particular species is allowed, size limits, division of fishing grounds among the fisherman, and set-ting of individual daily catch limits. Sanctions for violations include fines, confiscation of fishing gear, corporate punishment, as well as public shaming, and in some parts of the world even exile.