Marine resource management and fisheries governance in Belize exhibit a polycentric, decentralized, and nested institutional structure

Abstract

Overfishing is one of the most severe anthropogenic threats to the world's oceans, marked by widespread degradation of marine food webs and disruption of ecosystem functioning. Global fisheries can be categorized as common-pool resource (CPR) systems because restricting marine resource extraction is extremely challenging, and over-extraction contributes to an overall decline in availability to others. Because of these challenges, establishing effective institutions for the sustainable management of natural resource systems is essential. Community-based fisheries management offers a potential solution to overcome the challenges associated with fisheries as CPRs by including fishers in the management of their fisheries through collective action. The purpose of this study was to examine the institutional robustness (e.g. presence of nested and decentralized enterprises as indicators of resilience to shocks) of over 40 years of fisheries management in Belize. I used a mixed methods approach combining review of secondary literature, semi-structured interviews with key informants across the governmental, non-governmental, and fishers' sectors, and participant observation. The results of this study suggest that Belize has the institutions in place to overcome collective action problems and be a long-enduring CPR system. These conclusions have implications for the enforcement of Belize's new Fisheries Resource Bill (as of late 2019), and in other small-scale fisheries across the globe.