Evaluating the Fit of Co-management for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance in Timor-Leste

cg.contribution.worldfishauthorTilley, A.en_US
cg.contribution.worldfishauthorMills, D.J.en_US
cg.contribution.worldfishauthorRoscher, M.B.en_US
cg.contribution.worldfishauthorPereira, M.en_US
cg.contribution.worldfishauthorDuarte, A.en_US
cg.contribution.worldfishauthorGomes, M.en_US
cg.contribution.worldfishauthorCohen, P.J.en_US
cg.contributor.affiliationTimor Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, National Directorate for Fisheries and Aquacultureen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationWorldFishen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationIndependent / Not associateden_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Wollongongen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationLocally Managed Marine Area Networken_US
cg.contributor.affiliationArthropology Laben_US
cg.contributor.crpFishen_US
cg.contributor.funderFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsen_US
cg.contributor.funderAustralian Center for International Agricultural Researchen_US
cg.contributor.projectReviews of the use of co-management and information and communications technology in support of small-scale fisheries in Asiaen_US
cg.coverage.countryTimor-Lesteen_US
cg.coverage.regionSouth-Eastern Asiaen_US
cg.creator.idAlexander Tilley: 0000-0002-6363-0945en_US
cg.creator.idDavid Jonathan Mills: 0000-0003-0181-843Xen_US
cg.creator.idMatthew B Roscher: 0000-0002-3408-8763en_US
cg.creator.idPhilippa Jane Cohen: 0000-0002-9987-1943en_US
cg.description.themeFisheriesen_US
cg.identifier.ISIindexedISI indexeden_US
cg.identifier.statusOpen accessen_US
cg.subject.agrovocgovernanceen_US
cg.subject.agrovoclegal pluralismen_US
dc.creatorTilley, A.en_US
dc.creatorHunnam, K.en_US
dc.creatorMills, D.J.en_US
dc.creatorSteenbergen, D.en_US
dc.creatorGovan, H.en_US
dc.creatorAlonso-Poblacion, E.en_US
dc.creatorRoscher, M.B.en_US
dc.creatorPereira, M.en_US
dc.creatorRodrigues, P.en_US
dc.creatorAmador, T.en_US
dc.creatorDuarte, A.en_US
dc.creatorGomes, M.en_US
dc.creatorCohen, P.J.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-07T06:43:24Z
dc.date.available2019-08-07T06:43:24Z
dc.date.issued2019en_US
dc.description.abstractFisheries co-management is an increasingly globalized concept, and a cornerstone of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication, adopted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization member states in 2014. Timor-Leste is a politically young country in the relatively rare position of having underexploited fisheries in some areas that can be leveraged to improve coastal livelihood outcomes and food and nutrition security. The collaborative and decentralized characteristics of co-management appeal to policymakers in Timor-Leste with provisions for co-management and customary laws applied to resource use were incorporated into state law in 2004 and again reinforced in 2012 revisions. The first fisheries co-management pilots have commenced where management arrangements have been codified through tara bandu, a process of setting local laws built around ritual practice that prohibits nominated activities under threat of spiritual and material sanctions. To date, however, there has been little critical evaluation of the suitability or potential effectiveness of co-management or tara bandu in the Timor-Leste fisheries context. To address this gap, we adapted the interactive governance framework to review the ecological, social and governance characteristics of Timor-Leste’s fisheries to explore whether co-management offers a valid and viable resource governance model. We present two co-management case studies and examine how they were established, who was involved, the local institutional structures, and the fisheries governance challenges they sought to address. Despite their relative proximity, the two sites contrasted in local ecology and fishery type; community institutions were starkly different but equally strong; and one site had tangible economic benefits to justify compliance, where the other had marginal and anecdotal fishery gains. In our review of the broader governance landscape in Timor-Leste, we see co-management as a useful mechanism to govern small-scale fisheries, but there is a need to connect legitimized local institutions with hierarchical governance of higher and external influences. Initial successes with implementing tara bandu incorporating a small marine closure have stimulated other communities to implement no-take zones – one universally popular but very limited interpretation of co-management. However, we highlight the need for a set of guiding principles to ensure legitimate community engagement, and avoid external appropriation that may reinforce marginalization of certain user groups or customary power hierarchies.en_US
dc.identifier.citationAlexander Tilley, Kimberly Hunnam, David Mills, Dirk Steenbergen, Hugh Govan, Enrique Alonso-Poblacion, Matthew Roscher, Mario Pereira, Pedro Rodrigues, Teresa Amador, Agustinha Duarte, Mario Gomes, Philippa Cohen. (12/7/2019). Evaluating the Fit of Co-management for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance in Timor-Leste.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00392en_US
dc.identifier.issn2296-7745en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12348/3753
dc.languageenen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dc.rightsCC-BY-4.0en_US
dc.sourceFrontiers in Marine Science;(2019)en_US
dc.subjecttraditionen_US
dc.subjectcustomary marine tenureen_US
dc.subjectcommunity-based resource managementen_US
dc.titleEvaluating the Fit of Co-management for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance in Timor-Lesteen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US

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