Co-management policy for the fisheries sector 2020.

This Fisheries Co-Management Policy is designed to: (a) Provide the framework for consultative stakeholder engagement and decision making with respect to defining strategic measures for rejuvenating the fisheries sector with active participation and defined roles for all stakeholders, i.e. shared roles and responsibilities for management and enforcement; (b) Promote voluntary compliance with management regulations, standards and interventions by fishers; (c) Establish and empower stakeholder-led institutions that facilitate sustainable fisheries management for clearly defined management units. (d) Facilitate mobilization of resources for co-management interventions; (e) Develop effective local rules by combining local knowledge with scientific and technical knowledge of government agencies. Co-management is an approach to managing the harvest of defined fishery ecosystems and associated fish stocks in defined management areas through management groups where authority for how fish can be harvested, who can fish, and how much fish is harvested annually is vested in the management groups, and whereby decision making is shared among government authorities (primarily Fisheries Commission staff), and representatives of fisheries stakeholders for the fishery concerned. This would include both women and men, representatives of traditional fisheries institutions, harvesters from all fleets exploiting said resource, processors, marketers and other concerned civil society organizations with an interest in the fishery. Community-Based Co-Management Committees are to consist of stakeholders directly engaged in and benefiting economically from the fishery concerned. Community-Based Co-Management Committees must also have women representation.
The goal of this Fisheries Co-Management Policy is to achieve enhanced participation of the community of fisheries resource users in fisheries management through the delegation of management decision making from central management authority to local management authorities. More specifically, the objectives of the Policy are to: (a) Develop the modalities and institutional framework to delegate governance and management authority and responsibility to resource users; (b) Create and develop capacities of co-management units to empower the units to develop and implement management plans and enforce national fisheries laws; (c) Develop linkages among local stakeholders for enhanced co-management and learning at all levels, and (d) Increase adherence to fisheries laws and regulations.
The implementation of this Policy shall be guided by the general principles of transparency, participation, accountability, equity, trust and respect. The implementation of the Policy is also underpinned by the following Co-Management-specific principles: (a) Scale at which various fisheries need to be managed; (b) Simplicity and flexibility in the design of co-management structures; (c) Best practices in fisheries management approaches; (d) Delegated authorities; (e) Decentralization; (f) Roles of traditional authorities; (g) Linkages with existing institutions, national and international initiatives; (h) Subsidiary approach to co-management rules and fines.
The development and implementation of this Co-Management Policy is guided by the National Medium-Term Development Policy Framework (Agenda for Jobs) which operationalises the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (2017-2024).