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Abstract:
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"Co-management has been suggested as a solution to many of the problems associated with modern commercial fisheries. Proponents of the concept, including the author, have suggested that co-management provides fishermen with a personal stake in the future of their fishery or fisheries, provides for active participation in conservation and management of fisheries by users, and provides a normative context for acceptance and enforcement of regulations. However, it is also obvious that co-management is not a panacea for all that ails modern fisheries. A review of three social structures for managing fisheries (Florida spiny lobster; Newport Beach dory fishery; and the Regional Fishery Management Council system) described in the literature as co-management system indicates that there are critical gaps between the theory and practice of applied co-management. First, co-management does not appear to work in fisheries with diverse user groups and diverse socio-cultural norms; second, the economic self-interest of fishermen appears to have greater weight than self-interest in the conserving of fish stocks; and third, the lack of a 'public' voice in co-management programs results in an emphasis on harvest goals rather than on conservation goals."
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