Session: S-111
From small-scale to distant-water: Challenges and emerging opportunities for strengthening fisheries management in Asia

A central challenge of fisheries management is that it involves multiple spatial scales and levels of governance. This is particularly true in Asia, where some fisheries are managed by a single village on an individual reef and others by multi-national organizations spanning multiple oceans. This session will feature a spectrum of emerging approaches to fishery conservation in the Asian context, running across all of these scales. For... [ view more ]

A central challenge of fisheries management is that it involves multiple spatial scales and levels of governance. This is particularly true in Asia, where some fisheries are managed by a single village on an individual reef and others by multi-national organizations spanning multiple oceans. This session will feature a spectrum of emerging approaches to fishery conservation in the Asian context, running across all of these scales. For example, engaging local communities may be the best approach for data-poor and small-scale reef fisheries, such as those in India and Indonesia. In Japan, institutional reform may be a key first step because of existing obstacles to incorporating independent scientific advice into management decisions. And in China, new legal structures may be needed to improve the government’s capacity to regulate the rapid growth of distant-water fisheries, which now include more than 1,200 vessels and have sizeable landings around the globe. Speakers from each of these countries will discuss their ongoing efforts to support conservation-focused fisheries management in the region.