Impact assessment of Niger State fisheries legislation on fisheries conservation in Edozhigi local government area (L.G.A.) of Niger State

A preliminary survey was conducted among the fishermen in five selected villages in Edozhigi L.G.A. of Niger State. One hundred and fifty fishermen were randomly selected and interviewed to find out the impact of Niger State fisheries legislation on fisheries conservation resources in the area. The analysis of data collected using descriptive statistics indicated that undersized mesh of gill nets, beach seines and traps are being used unabated. Also, fenced barriers across the entrance of flood plain ponds and Ex-bow lakes from the main stream are in the area. The fisheries rules and regulations implementers are rarely seen or not seen at all in the area. The decreasing nature of fish catches was detected. It is observed that government policy on fish conversation is neglected due to inadequate or lack of funding for meaningful extension and implementation of the fisheries rules and regulations

Telling stories, understanding lives, working toward change

Stories are helping us learn more about the livelihoods of the fishers and farmers with whom we work in eastern India. We are engaged with these communities in processes and activities aimed at improving their lives and promoting changes in government policy and service delivery in aquaculture and fisheries. Stories are told in several languages by women and men who fish and farm, about their lives, their livelihoods and significant changes they have experienced. We also record stories as narrated to us by colleague-informants. The written and spoken word, photographs, drawings and films – all are used to document the stories of people’s lives, sometimes prompted by questions as simple as “What do people talk about in the village?” Through the power of language, stories can be an entry point into livelihoods programming, monitoring and evaluation, conflict transformation and ultimately a way of giving life to a rights-based approach to development. (PDF contains 10 pages).

Foods and diets of communities involved in inland aquaculture in Malaita Province, Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands has a population of just over half a million people, most of whom are rural-based subsistence farmers and fishers who rely heavily on fish as their main animal-source food and for income. The nation is one of the Pacific Island Counties and Territories; future shortfalls in fish production are projected to be serious, and government policy identifies inland aquaculture development as one of the options to meet future demand for fish. In Solomon Islands, inland aquaculture has also been identified as a way to improve ood and nutrition security for people with poor access to marine fish. This report undertaken by a Worldfish study under the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems explores the e potential role of land-based aquaculture of Mozambique tilapia in Solomon Islands as it relates to household food and nutrition security. This nutrition survey aimed to benchmark the foods and diets of households newly involved in small homestead tilapia ponds and their neighboring households in the central region of Malaita, the most populous island of all the provinces in Solomon Islands. Focus group discussions and semistructured interviews were employed in 10 communities (five inland and five coastal), four clinics, and five schools.

Facilitated advocacy: supporting farmers to have a voice in policy making and the development of service provision

Listening to people, especially those who are poor, and involving them in policy making and decisions about service delivery processes are logical steps in building better services and improving policies aimed at poverty alleviation. This case describes a facilitated advocacy that helped to negotiate and support a role for poor people who farm and fish, to contribute recommendations for changes in services and policies that impact on their lives. The national Government of India’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, both in the capital Delhi, have been linking with farmers and fishers and state government officials in the eastern states of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, in partnership with the STREAM Initiative of the intergovernmental Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia Pacific and with the support of the UK Government Department for International Development, Natural resources Systems Program supporting farmers to have a voice(13 p.)

Policy analysis of shoreline restoration options on private shorelines of Puget Sound

Puget Sound shorelines have historically provided a diversity of habitats that support a variety of aquatic resources throughout the region. These valued natural resources are iconic to the region and remain central to both the economic vitality and community appreciation of Puget Sound. Deterioration of upland and nearshore shoreline habitats, have placed severe stress on many aquatic resources within the region (PSAT, 2007). Since a majority of Washington State shorelines are privately owned, regulatory authority to legislate restoration on private property is limited in scope and frequency. Washington States’ Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58) requires local jurisdictions to plan for appropriate future shoreline uses. Under the Act, future development can be regulated to protect existing ecological functions, but lost functions cannot be restored without purchase or compensation of restored areas. Therefore, questions remains as to the ecological resilience of the region when considering cumulative effect of existing/ongoing shoreline development constrained by limited shoreline restoration opportunities. In light of these questions, this analysis will explore opportunities to promote restoration on privately owned shorelines within Puget Sound. These efforts are intended to promote more efficient ecosystem management and improve ecosystem-wide ecological functions. From an economics perspective, results of past shoreline management can generally be characterized as both market and government failure in effectively protecting the publics’ interest in maintaining healthy shoreline resources. Therefore coastal development has proceeded in spite of negative externalities and market imbalances resulting in inefficient resource management driven by the individual ambitions of private shoreline property owners to develop their property to their highest and best use. Federally derived property rights will protect continuation of existing uses along privately owned shorelines; therefore, a fundamental challenge remains in sustainable management of existing shoreline resources while also restoring ecological functions lost to past mistakes in an effort to increase the ecologic resiliency within the region. (PDF contains 5 pages)

Applying Habermas's critical theory to public administration and policy: A case study of Florida Everglades restoration program

The foundation of Habermas's argument, a leading critical theorist, lies in the unequal distribution of wealth across society. He states that in an advanced capitalist society, the possibility of a crisis has shifted from the economic and political spheres to the legitimation system. Legitimation crises increase the more government intervenes into the economy (market) and the "simultaneous political enfranchisement of almost the entire adult population" (Holub, 1991, p. 88). The reason for this increase is because policymakers in advanced capitalist democracies are caught between conflicting imperatives: they are expected to serve the interests of their nation as a whole, but they must prop up an economic system that benefits the wealthy at the expense of most workers and the environment. Habermas argues that the driving force in history is an expectation, built into the nature of language, that norms, laws, and institutions will serve the interests of the entire population and not just those of a special group. In his view, policy makers in capitalist societies are having to fend off this expectation by simultaneously correcting some of the inequities of the market, denying that they have control over people's economic circumstances, and defending the market as an equitable allocator of income. (deHaven-Smith, 1988, p. 14). Critical theory suggests that this contradiction will be reflected in Everglades policy by communicative narratives that suppress and conceal tensions between environmental and economic priorities. Habermas’ Legitimation Crisis states that political actors use various symbols, ideologies, narratives, and language to engage the public and avoid a legitimation crisis. These influences not only manipulate the general population into desiring what has been manufactured for them, but also leave them feeling unfulfilled and alienated. Also known as false reconciliation, the public's view of society as rational, and "conductive to human freedom and happiness" is altered to become deeply irrational and an obstacle to the desired freedom and happiness (Finlayson, 2005, p. 5). These obstacles and irrationalities give rise to potential crises in the society. Government's increasing involvement in Everglades under advanced capitalism leads to Habermas's four crises: economic/environmental, rationality, legitimation, and motivation. These crises are occurring simultaneously, work in conjunction with each other, and arise when a principle of organization is challenged by increased production needs (deHaven-Smith, 1988). Habermas states that governments use narratives in an attempt to rationalize, legitimize, obscure, and conceal its actions under advanced capitalism. Although there have been many narratives told throughout the history of the Everglades (such as the Everglades was a wilderness that was valued as a wasteland in its natural state), the most recent narrative, “Everglades Restoration”, is the focus of this paper.(PDF contains 4 pages)

Newport's mooring regulations: legal and policy analysis

The legal and policy issues facing Newport as it revises and implements its ordinances are numerous. Most of the issues have not been squarely resolved for Rhode Island. While Newport may take guidance from other states, it will be Rhode Island's task going forward to define the reach of its PTD as applied to some novel issues raised by mooring administration. The benefit of the flexibility of the PTD is allowing smaller units of government like Newport to define their regulatory goals based on a locally-tailored balancing test of competing interests facing scarce ocean resources. This report was designed to facilitate decision-maker discussion of how to strike that delicate balance.

Agriculture, irrigation and poverty reduction in Cambodia: Policy narratives and ground realities compared

This report is a contribution to an assessment of the current status of agriculture in Cambodia, focusing on the linkages between agriculture and water, mainly in the form of irrigation. It seeks to view current government policies on agriculture and irrigation in the context of experiences on the ground, as communicated through the many field studies that cover varied aspects of performance in the agriculture sector and irrigation schemes. In an effort to identify future research areas, this review examines the status quo, and connects or disconnects with stated policy through a broad lens to capture strengths and challenges across crop production, irrigation management and post-harvest contexts. It places irrigation under scrutiny in terms of its value as a major area of government expenditure in recent years, and asks whether it presents the best potential for future gains in productivity, when compared with the prospects offered by investments in other aspects of agriculture. The fieldwork and review of current literature that form the basis of this report were undertaken at the request of, and partly funded by, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). It is also intended to contribute knowledge to the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) led by WorldFish, who co-funded the activities.

Prawn culture and policy options: technology import and culture through fishermen vis a vis industry

Recent developments in aquaculture has created an awareness that prawn culture is a dollar spinner, in which industry can step in to earn foreign exchange by producing an expensive food iten which has a high market demand abroad. The Government has to take a policy decision whether the prawn culture should be done through small fishermen to improve their socio-economic condition or through private industry with the high technology input and predefined objectives of export trade. Perhaps a simultaneous operation of the two could be allowed best in the interest of India. Perhaps in the interest of quick development and adoption of high production technology, through fishermen organization, the development is encouraged through the implimentation of welfare and area development schemes. In some selected areas private industry may be encoureged to use high production technology to develop prawns.

Policies on poverty and the fisheries sector in Uganda: the current policy trends

There are concerns, at least among the proponents of development, on how to link policy development processes in Uganda and the associated transformation of the poor to high standards of living. In fact some questions have been posed as to whether it's the absence of poverty-targeted policies that a good proportion of individuals or communities are still poor. In the fisheries sector where most of the fish dependent communities live, poverty indications are still prevalent although arguments have been put that current reforms in the sector have transformed the lives of the fish dependent communities. The 1999/2000 household survey report indicates that the poverty levels reduced to 35% of Uganda's total population from 44% in 1997. The question that arose, which still arises anyway, was to define who is actually poor. When measuring poverty one is ultimately interested in the 'standards of living' of individuals especially those, whose standards of living are inadequate. The basic element of measuring this inadequacy/adequacy, at least in Uganda, is to use the household income or consumption per adult equivalent. Studies have demonstrated that household consumption expenditure is a good approximation of household income1. Therefore, for purpose of this report, we define poor households to mean based on that that one adopted by the Ministry of Finance to mean "households whose expenditure per adult equivalent falls below the poverty line 3 ". Many government documents report that the poverty line is one dollar a day. Therefore someone is below the poverty line if he or she lives on less than one dollar a day. In this paper, we analyse the evolution of poverty-driven policies that have been put in place by government and how these policies are shifting or are likely to shift the lives of fish dependent communities. We argue that combinations of poverty-policies are being translated into increased incomes and welfare of most individuals in the fisheries sector. The reasons for this shift, we argue, is as a result of a combination of factors all supported by non other that poverty-led government policies.