Economic and social impacts of Integrated Aquaculture-Agriculture technologies in Bangladesh

This study estimated the adoption rate of integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) technologies in Bangladesh and their impact on poverty and fish and food consumption in adopting households. We used a novel, simulation-based approach to impact assessment called Tradeoff Analysis for Multi-Dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD). We used the TOA-MD model to demonstrate how it is possible to use available data to estimate adoption rates in relevant populations, and to quantify impacts on distributional outcomes such as poverty and food security, thus demonstrating ex ante the potential for further investment in technology dissemination. The analysis used baseline and end-of-project survey data from WorldFish-implemented Development of Sustainable Aquaculture Project (DSAP), promoting IAA. This dataset was used to simulate adoption and assess its impacts on poverty and food security in the target population. We found that, if adopted, IAA had a significant positive impact on reducing poverty and improving food security and income.

Regional study on social dimensions of MPA practice in Central America: cases studies from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama

This research focuses on the social dimensions of marine conservation, and makes an assessment of the experiences of coastal and fi shing communities with regard to the governance of MPAs in Central America, based on case studies from Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. It examines the national contexts of the above countries in relation to the governance of MPAs. Furthermore, it analyzes the social impacts of MPAs on coastal communities by gathering the experiences and the voices of the communities and institutions involved, and reflects on how to build bridges in the search for forms and models of conservation that respect human rights and which are able to successfully integrate into local development efforts without affecting cultural and/or social patterns. To this end, this monograph looks at nine case studies across the region: in Honduras, the Islas de la Bahia-Guanaja Marine National Park, the Cayos Cochinos Marine Archipelago Natural Monument, and the Cuero and Salado Wildlife Refuge; in Nicaragua, the Chacocente Wildlife Refuge; in Costa Rica, the Guanacaste Conservation Area, the Ballena Marine National Park and the Golfo Dulce Responsible Fishing Area; and, in Panama, the Nargana Protected Area, in the Comarca de la Biosfera Guna-Yala, the Bastimentos Island Marine National Park, and Bocas del Toro.

The politics of participation: Evaluating stakeholder equity in co-management regimes

Within natural resource management, there is increasing criticism of the traditional model of top-down management as a method of governance, as researchers and managers alike have recognized that resources can frequently be better managed when stakeholders are directly involved in management. As a result, in recent years the concept of co-management of natural resources, in which management responsibilities are shared between the government and stakeholders, has become increasingly popular, both in the academic literature and in practice. However, while co-management has significant potential as a successful management tool, the issue of equity in co-management has rarely been addressed. It is necessary to understand the differential impacts on stakeholders of co-management processes and the degree to which diverse stakeholders are represented within co-management. Understanding the interests of various stakeholders can be a way to more effectively address the distributional and social impacts of coastal policies, which can in turn increase compliance with management measures and lead to more sustainable resource management regimes. This research seeks to take a closer look at the concepts of co-management and participation through a number of case studies of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Caribbean. (PDF contains 4 pages)

The feasibility of milkfish (Chanos chanos) aquaculture in Solomon Islands

Fish is crucial to food and nutrition security in Solomon Islands, and demand is expected to increase due to a growing population. However, it is projected that current capture fisheries production will not meet this growing demand. Aquaculture has the potential to mitigate the capture fishery shortfall, and the Government of Solomon Islands is prioritizing aquaculture as a solution to meet future food and income needs. Aquaculture in Solomon Islands is still in early development. Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) is farmed for household consumption, but its prolific reproductive rate and resulting slow growth limit its potential as a commercial aquaculture species. More productive fish species that are not indigenous to Solomon Islands but are successfully farmed overseas could be introduced; however, such a decision needs to take into account the potential ecological or social impacts. For land-based pond aquaculture, the only indigenous species that has been farmed extensively elsewhere is milkfish (Chanos chanos). This report presents a feasibility assessment for milkfish farming in Solomon Islands. It synthesizes the current knowledge about milkfish farming and presents results of a 4-year study on the potential for milkfish aquaculture in Solomon Islands.

Rapid recreation assessment: a tool to assess visitor use and associated impacts at coastal and marine protected areas

As more people discover coastal and marine protected areas as destinations for leisure-time pursuits, the task of managing coastal resources while providing opportunities for high quality visitor experiences becomes more challenging. Many human impacts occur at these sites; some are caused by recreation and leisure activities on-site, and others by activities such as agriculture, aquaculture, or residential and economic development in surrounding areas. Coastal management professionals are continually looking for effective ways to prevent or mitigate negative impacts of visitor use. (PDF contains 8 pages) Most coastal and marine protected area managers are challenged with balancing two competing goals—protection of natural and cultural resources and provision of opportunities for public use. In most cases, some level of compromise between the goals is necessary, where one goal constrains or “outweighs” the other. Often there is a lack of clear agreement about the priority of these competing goals. Consequently, while natural resource decisions should ultimately be science-based and objective, such decisions are frequently made under uncertainty, relying heavily upon professional judgment. These decisions are subject to a complex array of formal and informal drivers and constraints—data availability, timing, legal mandate, political will, diverse public opinion, and physical, human, and social capital. This paper highlights assessment, monitoring, and planning approaches useful to gauge existing resource and social conditions, determine feasibility of management actions, and record decision process steps to enhance defensibility. Examples are presented from pilot efforts conducted at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) and Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in South Florida.

Integrating climate change impacts to improve understanding of coastal climate change: heavy rains, strong winds, and high seas in coastal Hawaii, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest

Coastal storms, and the strong winds, heavy rains, and high seas that accompany them pose a serious threat to the lives and livelihoods of the peoples of the Pacific basin, from the tropics to the high latitudes. To reduce their vulnerability to the economic, social, and environmental risks associated with these phenomena (and correspondingly enhance their resiliency), decision-makers in coastal communities require timely access to accurate information that affords them an opportunity to plan and respond accordingly. This includes information about the potential for coastal flooding, inundation and erosion at time scales ranging from hours to years, as well as the longterm climatological context of this information. The Pacific Storms Climatology Project (PSCP) was formed in 2006 with the intent of improving scientific understanding of patterns and trends of storm frequency and intensity - “storminess”- and related impacts of these extreme events. The project is currently developing a suite of integrated information products that can be used by emergency managers, mitigation planners, government agencies and decision-makers in key sectors, including: water and natural resource management, agriculture and fisheries, transportation and communication, and recreation and tourism. The PSCP is exploring how the climate-related processes that govern extreme storm events are expressed within and between three primary thematic areas: heavy rains, strong winds, and high seas. To address these thematic areas, PSCP has focused on developing analyses of historical climate records collected throughout the Pacific region, and the integration of these climatological analyses with near-real time observations to put recent weather and climate events into a longer-term perspective.(PDF contains 4 pages)

Environmental and social impact monitoring of the Bujagali Hydropower Project (BHPP), Uganda Fisheries Component: monthly patterns in physico-chemical conditions and fish catch in the immediate vicinity of the Bujagali Hydropower construction site, 29th September - 28th October 2007

Following the commencement of construction works of a 250 MW hydropower plant at Dumbbell Island in the Upper Victoria Nile in September 2007, BEL requested NaFIRRI to conduct continuous monitoring of fish catches at two transects i.e. the immediate upstream transect of the project site (Kalange-Makwanzi) and the immediate downstream .transect (Buyala-Kikubamutwe). The routine monitoring surveys were designed to be conducted twice a week at each of the tWo transects. It was anticipated that major immediate impacts were to occur during construction, and these needed to be known by BEL as part of a mitigation strategy. For example, the construction of it cofferdam could be accompanied by rapid changes in water quality and quantity downstream of the construction. These changes in turn could affect the fish catch and would probably be missed by the quarterly monitoring already in place. Therefore, a major cbjective of the more regular and rapid monitoring was to discern immediate impacts of construction activities by focusing on selected water quality parameters (total suspended solids, water conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH) and fish catch characteristics (total catch, catch rates and value of the catch)

Social and economic implications of the fishery distribution patterns on Lake Victoria, Uganda

The fisheries of Lake Victoria have undergonea dramatic transformation during the last two decades. From being a locally based fishery with little intervention and capital investment from outside,the present fishery is dominated by national and international capital penetrating the industry. It is explosion in the growth of nile perch and the strong demand devloped for this fishin the global markets, which have transformed the fisheries of the Lake victoria. This report presents the results of a survey carried out between October 2001 and February 2002 about the fishery distribution patterns and their impacts on fisher communities of Lake Victoria. The fisheries distribution pattern of the lake is described as well as the flows and benefits from the fisheries resource and the resource constraints and sustainability options. A major part of the paper discusses some of the socio-economic impacts of the rapid changes that are responsible for the present fisheries. It particularly focuses on the effect of the Nile perch boom, its globalization and the development of the fish industry in Uganda, on food security and employment for the local population.

Shifting rice farming to fish culture in some selected areas of Mymensingh, Bangladesh: the process, conflicts and impacts

The evolutionary process of converting low-lying paddy fields into fish farms and its impact on agrarian communities in some selected areas of Mymensingh district were studied. This study was conducted through participatory rural appraisal (PRA) covering 12 villages from each of selected upazillas viz. Fulpur and Haluaghat of Mymensing [sic] district. A total of 12 PRA sessions were conducted where 90 farmers participated during 29 July to 26 August 2004. It is seen that the use of low-lying paddy fields was mostly confined to Broadcast Aman (B. Aman) rice production until 1960s. With the introduction of modern rice farming technology, the farmers started to produce Boro rice in Rabi season and B. Aman rice in Kharif season. With the passage of time, aquaculture technologies have been evolved and the farmers realized that fish farming is more profitable than rice cultivation, and then they started to utilize their paddy fields for alternate rice-fish farming and rice-cum-fish farming. Now a days, aquaculture based crop production system is in practice in more than 25% of the low-lying paddy fields. Conversion of rice fields in to fish ponds has brought up a change in the livelihood patterns of the rural farmers. The areas where the farmers involved themselves in the new production systems were fingerling collection, transportation and marketing of fry and fingerlings. During 1960s to 1970s, a few people used to culture fish in the permanent ponds for their own consumption, the species produced were rohu, catla, mrigal, ghainna, long whiskered catfish, freshwater shark (boal), snake head (shol) etc. Small fishes like climbing perch, stinging catfish, walking catfish, barb, minnows etc. were available in the rice fields during monsoon season. In 1980s to mid 1990s, some rice fields were converted into fish ponds and the people started to produce fish for commercial purposes. When rice-fish farming became profitable, a large number of people started converting their rice fields in to rice-fish culture ponds. Culture of some exotic fishes like silver carp, tilapia, grass carp, silver barb etc. also started in the paddy fields. Higher income from fish farming contributed positively in improving the housing, sanitation and education system in the study areas. It is seen that the medium and medium high lands were only used for alternate rice fish farming. The net income was high in any fish based cropping system that motivated the farmers to introduce fish based cropping system in the low-lying inland areas. As a result, the regional as well as communal income disparities occurred. However, the extraction of ground water became common during the dry period as the water was used for both rice and fish farming. Mass conversion of paddy fields into rice-fish culture ponds caused water logging in the study areas. In most cases, the participated farmers mentioned that they could be easily benefited by producing fish with T. Aman or only fish during the monsoon season. They agreed that this was an impressive technology to them and they could generate employment opportunities throughout the year. Finally, the social, economic and technical problems which are acting as constraints to rapid expansion of fish production system were reported from the interviewee.

Knowledge, perceptions, impacts and roles of lakeside communities and institutions in the sustainable control of water hyacinth

The massive water hyacinth mats that covered water bodies in the 1990s had serious social and economic impacts. They affected fishing, transportation, water quality and health of fishing communities as well as production of goods and services of lake-based institutions (commercial establishments). At peak infestations, the communities and institutions were aware of and participated readily in control effort. However, after the major collapse of hyacinth in 1998, some of them relaxed in their control efforts. The status of knowledge, perception, impacts, preparedness and role of the lakeside communities and institutions to control the weed has, therefore, been monitored since the major resurgence of the weed to find out if the lakeside communities and institutions still perceive water hyacinth as a problem and the extent to which they are prepared to sustain control.

Impacts of oil exploration and exploitation activities on marine environment

Iran possess huge oil reservoir and occupies second place in OPEC. Recent investigation has revealed that reservoir capacity in the country amount to 60 billion barrel of oil. Many measures has been carried out to increase production capacity of oil fields to 4.2 million barrel per day. Thus any distribution in oil exploration may leave adverse effects on social and economic activities. Unfortunately due to absence of a comprehensive CPM on environmental impact assessment, lots of environmental distribution has been occurred in land and off-shore. It is well known that implementation of EIA can reduce environmental hazards. In the present investigation, all major and minor activities associated with oil exploration is identified and subsequently their effects on physical, chemical and biological environment (aquatic) has been brought out. In this context, economical, social and cultural effects of marine oil exploration is also discussed. Subsequently, all methods of EIA were studied and best mitigation plans were drawn up both for exploitation and exploration phases.