Law and Governance Toolkit for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Best Regulatory Practices

Author
Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
December 2020
Law and Governance Toolkit for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Best Regulator

Over the last couple of decades, ocean stewardship efforts have turned to focus on several key approaches, such as the implementation of sustainable fisheries practices, including small-scale fisheries (SSF) co-management. This Toolkit presents a methodology for assessing the reform needs to strengthen SSF governance, along with examples of model regulatory language for the core governance elements. Given the central role of co-management in sustainable SSF governance, the legal language in this Toolkit focuses on creating and implementing co-management systems (Part 3), along with two basic governance elements that strengthen co-management: exclusive fishing rights for SSF communities (Part 1), and the creation of exclusive zones for SSF (Part 2). The three remaining Parts address fundamental elements for enhancing the likelihood of the success of a sustainable SSF co-management scheme: strengthening compliance (Part 4), overcoming the conceptual opposition between fisheries and marine protected areas (Part 5), and making SSF governance compatible with other area-based ocean management approaches (Part 6).