Abstract
Small-scale inland fisheries (SSIF) are a livelihood opportunity for millions of people in developing countries. Understanding the economic, ecological, political and social impacts fishers are coping with can clarify weaknesses and challenges in the fishery management. Using the SSIF at Lake Alaotra, Madagascar, as an example, we analyzed the development and fishers’ perception of, and adaptation strategies to, change. We surveyed fish catches to assess the state of fish stocks and conducted interviews to understand fishers’ livelihood, problems, behavior and attitudes. Our results show that the fishery sector of Lake Alaotra has grown dramatically although fish catches have fallen sharply. Changes in species composition and low reproduction rates reflect the fishing pressure. A point of no return seems near, as decreasing agricultural yields force farmers to enter the fishery sector as a form of livelihood diversification. Lake Alaotra reflects an alarming trend which can already be seen in many regions of the world and may affect a growing number in the near future. The Alaotran fisheries demonstrate that SSIF’s ability to provide livelihood alternatives under conditions of insecurity will become increasingly important. It further highlights that the identification of ongoing livelihood dynamics in order to disclose possible poverty trap mechanisms and to understand fisheries’ current function is essential for sustainable management.
Highlights
Small-scale inland fisheries (SSIF) are a growing livelihood opportunity for people living next to water bodies in developing countries [1,2,3]
Our results show that the fishery sector of Lake Alaotra has grown dramatically fish catches have fallen sharply
The maximum yield of the Alaotran fisheries was reached in the 1960s, with 4000 tons of fish per year allocated to around the Alaotran fisheries was reached in the 1960s, with 4000 tons of fish per year allocated to around
Summary
Small-scale inland fisheries (SSIF) are a growing livelihood opportunity for people living next to water bodies in developing countries [1,2,3]. Based on its open access, fisheries are, according to Béné, often reduced to a “last resort activity” for poor people [15], and fishers are referred to as the “the poorest of the poor” [15], since the use of common property is said to lead inevitably to a low level of resources and low income [15]. This one-sided perspective ignores the fact that fishers are not necessarily poor because they are fishers, but they are fishers because they are poor (e.g., landless). This becomes apparent through an “inadequate financial, institutional, and scientific support for small-scale fisheries” and has “further obscured evidence about the contribution of small-scale fishing communities to conservation, [ . . . ] poverty alleviation, social well-being and resilience, and cultural heritage”, as Chuenpagdee [8] summarized (p. 22)
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