Better management practices for increased production

Background

Better management practices have to be adopted in compliance with the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the relevant Technical Guidelines that have been elaborated in support of the implementation of the Code. All management measures have to aim at a sustainable development. Biologists used the term "sustainable" with reference to the yield that can be removed from a fish stock in perpetuity. With the increasing use of enhancement techniques in inland fisheries the term "sustainable" takes on a more agricultural connotation implying the continuance of given levels of yield under particular regimes on input without damage to the surrounding environment. In this context a broad definition for sustainable agricultural and rural development is offered by FAO as 'the management and conservation of the natural resource base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations". Such sustainable development concerns land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable, and socially acceptable.

Co-management

Better management also means that abusive activities have to be banned. A cornerstone for better management within the sector is co-management. Effective mechanisms have to be established as appropriate to monitor and control the fishing activities. In general, ensuring compliance with fishery regulations in inland waters is particularly difficult in view of the linear dispersion of the many small fisheries and landings along rivers and the diffusion of individual fisheries on small and scattered lakes and reservoirs. The cost and practicability of surveillance by a centralised organization become prohibitive and it is usually advocated that these functions be incorporated into co-management agreements so they are undertaken by the fishery communities themselves.

However, better management must not be limited to management measures pertaining exclusively to the fishing activity, e.g. the effort to increase production using the various management options and to use the aquatic resource in a sustainable manner, but has to be extended to include all the various sectors taking benefit from the common natural resources. A cornerstone in this respect is the "User-pays-principle" where users of the water and the basin should minimize any deleterious effects and contribute to the mitigation of any impacts of their activities and to rehabilitate the systems when the need for their activity has ceased.