Co-management is one of a number of promising new and alternative
management approaches that have emerged in recent years for fisheriesmanagement. These new management approaches are part of a discussion of
new directions for fisheries management presented in a recent book authored
by Berkes et al. (2001), a companion volume to this publication. The authors
present a vision for small-scale fisheries that sees the linkages between human
and natural systems and recognizes the need for management approaches that
address these linkages. It is a vision with a human face and a people focus –
fishers and fishing communities. It recognizes that the underlying causes of
fisheries resource overexploitation and environmental degradation are often of
social, economic, institutional and/or political origins. It recognizes that
fisheries management should focus on people, not fish, per se.
It is becoming increasingly clear that governments, with their finite
resources, cannot solve all fishery problems. Local communities will need to
take more responsibility for solving local problems. In order to do this,
however, communities must be empowered and resources provided to make
decisions locally and to take actions that meet local opportunities and
problems. The assistance and support of government will still be needed to
achieve these results, although the role and responsibilities of government will
also need to change.