Redefining Stewardship: Public Lands and Rural Communities in the Pacific Northwest

pdf contains 24 pages

Aspects of the oyster season in Maryland: Involving labor conflicts detrimental to both seafood and cannery industries, with special reference to the latter

For fully three decades there has been an almost steady decline in Maryland's oyster production... are alarmed for its future. Reasons for decline, data supplied,importance of brood oysters and clutch replenishment. Problems of warm weather and bacterial activity as well as tongs grinding the bottom. Conflicts in canning of early season oysters and late season crops like tomatoes. (PDF contains 16 pages)

Self-recruiting species (SRS) from farmer managed aquatic systems: are they important to the livelihoods of rural communities?

Why are SRS important? The answer is to be found in this well-structured survey under: SRS as food source; SRS as additional source of cash income; Role of SRS in social capital. An analysis of the threats to SRS and the potential management options for farmer managed aquatic systems are also available in this survey along with the following definition of SRS: SRS are defined as aquatic animals that can be harvested from farmer managed aquatic systems without regular stocking. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Country strategy paper: Philippines

The Philippines rank 85 out of 175 countries in terms of Human Development Index. Poverty is most acute and widespread in rural areas, including many coastal municipalities, where 54% of people are living below the poverty line. Dependence on coastal and inland aquatic resources is high among rural poor people, who tend to be self-employed, primarily in agriculture, fisheries and casual labor. They are almost all landless. (PDF contains 21 pages)

A livelihoods study of fishers and farmers in Thai Nguyen Province

This is the report of a livelihoods study team working together with members of two communes in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. The study is based on information provided by the commune members, who shared their knowledge and spoke about real problems they face with their livelihoods. The study was conducted from 10-30 October 2001. The team worked with key informants in two communes, Dan Tien in Vo Nhia District and Phuong Tien in Dinh Hoa District, who participated in discussions and represented households in the commune. The livelihoods studies in Dan Tien and Phuong Tien communes explored existing human, labor and natural resources as well as other factors affecting people’s livelihoods. (PDF contains 32 pages)

STREAM Initiative: support to regional aquatic resources management: a NACA strategy for rural development

(PDF contains 9 pages.)

The Kaipara story: a closer look at the benefits of working together, the evolution of a federation of aquaculture self-help groups and a one-stop aqua shop in rural West Bengal

What is special about Kaipara is that most recently, they have founded a federation of Self-Help Groups that work together to develop their own support network and to draw in the support of others. This is a sophisticated ‘home-grown’ support infrastructure that is the subject of this story. (Pdf contains 8 pages).

Networking for Rural Development: a closer look at the evolution of communications in the STREAM Initiative

What began as a general desire to share messages about processes, technologies, lives and opportunities – among farming and fishing communities and those who work with them – has evolved into a network that shares meanings and lessons learnt. Now instead of relying on core funding or catalytic support, the STREAM Initiative is self-funded through the services its network provides to academic, development and other organizations. (Pdf contains 8 pages).

Aquaculture research: technology transfer for rural development in Nigeria

Conventional aquaculture has been promoted in Nigeria for the past five decades with minimal impact on rural communities: from the findings of Maclearen (1949) where he popularized the use of culturable fish predators Lutjanus sp; Pomades sp; Tarpon adanticus; Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus in earthen ponds near Onikan-Lagos, Nigeria; to the finding of Zwilling, 1963, who reported common carp, Cyprinus carpio propagation and culture in Panyan Fish Farm, near Jos; to the findings of FAO, 1965, when the potential culture of marine mullets culture in brackish water ponds in Buguma, Rivers State was presented. The work of other researchers Sivalingam, (1970; 1973), Ezenwa (1976), development officers and extension officers contributed to the development of aquaculture in few rural areas of the country and informed on public and private owned fish farm infrastructures. Despite a moderate long history of aquaculture research and development in Nigeria, an annual production level of 25,000 metric tons was recorded in 1999. This situation calls for a more sustainable approach for a stronger link between aquaculture research and technology transfer for the development of rural communities of Nigeria. This paper therefore examines some of the issues involved in the continuous flow of the new aquaculture technology in the improvement of fish protein output, standard of living of rural farmers and prevention of urban migration by the youth

Application of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques in the verification of fisheries data and trend on Lake Kainji

After several years of surveys on the Kainji Lake fisheries activities by the Nigerian German Kainji Lake Fish promotion Project (KLFPP) trends regarding catches, yield and other parameter begin to emerge. However, it became obvious that some of the data were not quite as accurate as they were believed to be. Looking at the different editions of the statistical bulletin of Kainji Lake, concerning one given fisheries parameter, sometimes it is possible to reveal inconsistencies and unexplained trends. As compared to the survey method, PRA is primarily for analysis of differences in local phenomenon and processes. Therefore, PRA was used as a complementary tool to enhance the knowledge on issues like fisher women, entrepreneurs, gear ownership structure, mode of operation by owners of large gear number, preference in the use of twine and nylon gill nets, and reasons for misinformation on the number of fishing equipment owned by entrepreneurs, which cannot be done with frame survey. PRA techniques like timeline, mapping, seasonal calendar, transect walk and key informant interviews were utilized in the study process

The role of extension in fisheries development among rural communities

It is a common knowledge that there exists a wide gap between domestic fish production and demand in Nigeria. Government recognizes this situation and has in recent years encouraged fish production through fishing inputs subsidies, DFRRI assisted fingerlings production among others. Despite these efforts, impact at the grassroots has been low. One of the major reasons for the failure could be attributable to inadequate involvement of rural communities in fish production. This missing link appears to be ignorance of local communities in harnessing this potential to stimulate fish production. There is therefore the need to educate the rural dwellers through effective extension services. Strategies to achieve the required awareness have been discussed

Linking public perceptions of socioeconmic change and marine resource management in rural Maine

Rural coastal regions across the United States are coping with dramatic social and environmental changes. Historically, these areas relied heavily on fishing and marine commerce and these economic activities defined the character of coastal communities. However, shifting ocean and climate conditions, together with inadequate management strategies, have led to sharp declines in harvestable marine resources. These trends, along with increasing competition from aquaculture and international sources of fish, have led to the steady decline of fishing as the central economic activity in many rural coastal communities. (PDF contains 3 pages)

Impact of Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) loan to artisanal fishermen in Lake Kainji

This study was conducted to assess the impact of Nigerian Agricultural, Co-operative and Rural Development Bank Loan on beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries fishermen in Lake Kainji. A total of fifty fishermen (25 beneficiaries and 25 non-beneficiaries) were randomly selected from five fishing villages along the lake basin. Data collected were scored and the percentages of the parameters were calculated appropriately. The types of loans disbursed to beneficiaries revealed that 52% was cash and 48% was in kind. The credit package ranged between N5, 000 to N150, 000 only. Only 48% of the loans granted were paid while the rest remained unpaid. The results obtained from the membership of fishermen Cooperative showed that 64% of beneficiaries were members while 36% were non-members. Also 36% of non-beneficiaries were members while 64% were not. The Common fishing gears used by the two categories of fishermen include gillnets longline, castnet and driftnets. Sixty percent of beneficiaries and 8% of non-beneficiaries fishermen were using canoe with outboard engines while the rest used canoes with paddles. Beneficiaries earned a higher income (N1, 000 to N9, 000) daily than non-beneficiaries (N1, 000 to N6, 000) daily from sales of fish caught. Major contrainsts to increased catch and income identified include inadequate capital, non- availability of fishing inputs, stealing of fishing gears, lack of access to credit facilities and menace of stump and water hyacinth in the lake. Lastly, recommendation were made for the bank management, government and other lending institutions on how to improve the livelihood of the Artisanal fishermen by increasing the loan usually granted

Characterization of rural livelihood of Lake Chad basin fishermen

The study examined the characterization of rural livelihood of the fishermen in the Nigeria portion of Lake Chad Basin are as part of European Commission (EC) founded project entitled "Sustainable development of continental fisheries; a regional study of policy options and policy formation mechanisms for the Lake Chad Basin" Wealth ranking exercise which was not based on real income but on production capacity of the fishermen was carried out in twenty (20) villages survey on the western part of the region using Rapid Rural Appraisal Technique with semi- structured interviews. The different activities carried out by the villagers for living were identified according to their socio-economic status. This was followed by an assessment of the socio-economic characterization within each wealth group. Series of comparative analysis of the ethnic composition, accessibility of fishing gear ownership by the population were done. The results show that the 3 wealth groups in the region include the rich (Group 1) the middle class (Group 2) and the poor (Group 3). It was identified that fishing is just one component of the socio-economic production system along side farming, livestock rearing and trading which are closely integrated. The diversified livelihood system being practiced in the Chad Basin region are not only less vulnerable but also more sustainable