Phase IV – Advancing adaptive co-management of small-scale fisheries in East Africa

Across the western Indian Ocean (WIO), the challenges of effectively managing nearshore fisheries resources have led to the transformation of fisheries management from top-down government managed to collaborative management (commonly called co-management). Because co-management is effective in maintaining small-scale fisheries (SSF) that are essential for coastal people’s livelihoods in the WIO, there has been a great deal of effort put into its institutionalization and less on developing the management capacity of local communities that is integral to the co-management model. The social and ecological outcomes of management actions, such as community fisheries closures or gear-based management interventions and the underlying factors affecting the ability of communities to manage their resources in the long term have received little attention. This knowledge is crucial for informing successful and sustainable interventions that can be replicated across the WIO.  

The project used a “proof of concept” design to evaluate the adoption and success of comanagement and fisheries management interventions in Kenya, Madagascar, and Tanzania. These were undertaken in three interconnected components: a co-management component using the “learning-by-doing design of adaptive management; a study of how people adopt and diffuse fisheries management innovations using the escape gap trap a relatively innovation as a case study? and, what and how channels of communication advance learning of co-management in the WIO?  

Project sites were selected based on the dependence of the local communities on coral reefs and small-scale fisheries (SFF) and the presence of co-management arrangements. In Kenya, the sites were located in the Kanamai and Kuruwitu Beach Management Units (BMU) that also encompassed well-established community fisheries closures (locally called tengefu). The sites in Tanzania were in the Boza-Sange collaborative management area and the Ankarea and Ankivonji marine protected areas (MPAs) in Madagascar that are managed by local communities. Different components were tested at different sites.  

The co-management planning component provided many opportunities for learning through training and practicing skills during the adaptive management planning process, implementation of management actions, and monitoring. The Kuruwitu BMU and stakeholders completed the entire planning process, culminating in a draft co-management plan, the first in Kilifi County, while Kanamai made good progress toward drafting a plan. In Madagascar, the existing plans of the Ankarea and Ankivonji MPAs were reviewed and revised, resulting in a new structure that strengthened monitoring and surveillance and other management measures of the MPAs. 

The escape gap trap was successfully scaled up in Kenya and trialed in Pangani, Tanzania. The traps at the Kenyan sites performed well except where there was intense fishing pressure indicating that to gain the full benefits of these traps, fisheries management measures including control of fishing effort and removal of destructive gears are required. The studies on the process of adoption of the escape gap trap showed that early adopters were more likely to be influenced by external agents. Since knowledge of an innovation plays a crucial role in the initial adoption process, it is important to use intermediaries with a high credibility amongst potential adoptees to increase the chances of adoption and diffusion throughout the community. The escape gap trap was also shown to have a positive impact on wealth relational and structural dimensions of well-being to different extents. A comparison of the catches of different types of gears including the escape gap trap used on coral reefs in Kenya also indicated that the escape gap trap was the most effective in enhancing biodiversity protection and its continued use combined with control of fishing effort will increase the chances of enhancing coral reef resilience and maintaining fisheries sustainability and benefits to the fishing communities.  

The knowledge generated during the implementation of the project was disseminated at three Fisher’s forums, informing more than 400 fishers and other SSF stakeholders. Knowledge dissemination could further be enhanced, for example, through smaller events at landing sites, targeted materials for different subjects, coordination with existing community networks, and cross-county and cross-border fisher exchanges. The social network analysis showed that there is also scope to enhance the diffusion of knowledge from the Fisher’s forum to communities through careful selection of key players to attend the forum. The forum could also function as the conduit for Kenyan participation in a regional network should one be established in the future. 

Small-scale fisheries play an important role in securing food and livelihoods for coral reef-dependent communities but also have a direct and negative impact on coral reefs. Managers in the WIO have focused on instituting co-management and less on building the management capacity of communities. This project helped build the skills and management capacity for adaptive co-management and generated knowledge on the social and ecological outcomes of gear-based management measures. The experiences and knowledge gained will be useful for future co-management interventions in the WIO.