Aquatic resources management for sustainable livelihoods of poor people: proceedings of the DFID-ARM e-mail conference, June 2000

This e-mail conference has been organised by the DFID Aquatic Resources Management (ARM) Programme, S E Asia. It forms part of a wider process of consultation including links with other donors, with government and non-government partners and participatory livelihood assessments with vulnerable groups who benefit from aquatic resources. The objective is to provide a forum for professionals who have been involved in aquatic resources management in the context of poor peoples’ livelihoods, to share experiences, reflect on approaches and contribute to their development. Participants can submit poster presentations (2-pagers) and contribute to the discussions (via the conference website) organised around 5 key issues, set out in this discussion paper. After 4 weeks online the contributed posters and discussions will be edited into a document assessing approaches to aquatic resources management, which benefit livelihoods of poor people. This will be downloadable from the website. (PDF contains 134 pages)

Fisheries laws and regulations of Nigeria and room for further developments

The fisheries laws and regulations presently operative in Nigeria are on marine waters. These include: 1) The Sea Fisheries Decree (Act) of 1971; 2) The Sea Licencing Regulations of 1971; 3) The Sea Fisheries (Fishing) Regulations of 1972; and 4) The exclusive Economic Zone Decree of 1978. Attempts have also been made to produce the Inland waters Fisheries Regulation

Fishery management plans and the development of artisanal fisheries in Nigeria: a review

Management of natural resources all over the world is of paramount importance to their sustainability in developing countries like Nigeria, there is less emphasis on proper management especially of fishery and other aquatic resources due to lack of sensitization and enlightenment of the rural dwellers who are closer to such natural resources. The main thrust of this review is to examine the management plans for Nigerian freshwater bodies (rivers and lakes) and the impact of such plans on the artisanal fisheries development in Nigeria. From the on-shelf information gathered there is scarcity of information on the management of Nigerian freshwater body's information available indicates that there is the traditional fisheries management and the government legal approach in form of fisheries Laws and Regulations. However, these management techniques are poorly carried out since there is a poor follow-up. Appreciable impact of fisheries management introduced on Kanji Lake by the Nigerian-German Kanji Lake Fisheries Promotion Project (NGKLFPP) between 1993 and 2001 proves worthwhile as this introduced some management measures such as implementation of fisheries Laws and Regulations, the ban of obnoxious fishing methods, introduction of fishing license, constitution of a management unit and appointment of liaison fishermen. Within the operative years of the project a lot of success was achieved and it is recommended that the approach in Kainji should be replicated in other freshwater bodies in Nigeria to alleviate poverty in the rural poor fishing communities

Gestão do trabalho na Estratégia Saúde da Família em municípios do Estado do Rio de Janeiro com mais de 500 mil habitantes: o caso do Rio de Janeiro e Duque de Caxias

Não obstante ao aumento do número de equipes de Saúde da Família no território brasileiro há disparidade na implantação da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) em municípios de grande porte. Outras dificuldades enfrentadas referem-se aos recursos humanos em saúde (RHS). Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa objetivou analisar o cenário atual da gestão do trabalho na ESF nos municípios do Rio de Janeiro e Duque de Caxias. Metodologia: Estudo exploratório, de investigação narrativa, bibliográfica e documental, de abordagem qualitativa. A coleta de dados se deu em duas fases: pesquisa de material bibliográfico nas bases: LILACS, PAHO e WHOLIS, e de editais de processos seletivos e concursos públicos dos anos 2000, com vistas à contratação de profissionais de saúde para a ESF e; entrevistas semiestruturadas com gestores da ESF. O período de coleta perdurou entre agosto de 2010 e dezembro de 2011. Os documentos foram analisados à luz da estatística descritiva e as entrevistas submetidas à análise de conteúdo. Resultados: Escassez de literatura sobre a ESF nos municípios de Duque de Caxias e Rio de Janeiro. As contratações no Rio de Janeiro obedeceram a dois momentos: prefeitura e Organizações Sociais (OS) como contratantes. Em Duque de Caxias a contratação foi exclusividade da Prefeitura. No Rio de Janeiro os salários dos profissionais variaram entre R$ 728,59 (Agentes Comunitários de Saúde - ACS) e R$ 7.773,69 (médicos), contrastando com a isonomia salarial adotada em Duque de Caxias, com vencimentos ao redor de R$ 700,00 para os ACS, R$ 800,00 para nível técnico e; aproximadamente R$ 5.000,00 aos profissionais de nível superior. Os gestores sugerem que a maior rotatividade entre os médicos é motivada por carga horária excessiva; más condições de trabalho e, localização da unidade em áreas de risco social. As estratégias para atração e fixação profissional incluem: processos seletivos; garantia dos direitos trabalhistas e; abonos salariais, no caso do Rio de Janeiro e; flexibilização de carga horária, melhorias em infraestrutura e estratégias de qualificação, em Duque de Caxias. Entrevistas revelaram as maiores dificuldades na gestão da ESF: alta rotatividade, formação médica destoante com o SUS e, infraestrutura precária. Acrescenta-se o baixo salário para médicos em Duque de Caxias e, vínculos e salários distintos entre profissionais que exercem mesma função no Rio de Janeiro. Conclusões: A expansão da ESF nos grandes centros urbanos encontra obstáculos relacionados à gestão do trabalho que fragilizam sua consolidação. O Rio de Janeiro mostra-se mais atraente para os profissionais da ESF. O único diferencial de Duque de Caxias, sobretudo para odontólogos e enfermeiros, refere-se à contratação direta pela Prefeitura com vinculação estatutária, ainda que, eventual aumento salarial esteja atrelado ao de todos os servidores municipais. No Rio de Janeiro, a contratação sob regime da Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho revela-se uma proteção, posto que diante da possibilidade de perda de profissionais as OS elevam seus salários. Dentre as recomendações para fixação profissional incluem-se: incentivos salariais para atuação em regiões vulneráveis, melhorias em infraestrutura e, acoplação entre Instituições de Ensino Superior e rede de saúde.

Investigation into the factors associated with poor water quality in intensively cultured prawn ponds

Water quality problems are reported to be the factor limiting prawn production in the local prawn farm. This investigation was carried out to monitor water quality and its relationship to physical, chemical and biological conditions in the ponds in order to establish what factors should be monitored in order to predict problems. Pond collapse was found to be associated with high concentrations of ammonium, high pH and blue-green algae dominated phytoplankton populations. There was no easy means of predicting the imminent collapse of ponds as the phenomenon was never associated with the extreme of any of the conditions monitored. Rather it seemed to be related to the stability of the pond's algal population, which was largely unaccounted for. Recommendations toward improving water quality are proposed.

Use of SARIMA models to assess data-poor fisheries: a case study with a sciaenid fishery off Portugal

Research on assessment and monitoring methods has primarily focused on fisheries with long multivariate data sets. Less research exists on methods applicable to data-poor fisheries with univariate data sets with a small sample size. In this study, we examine the capabilities of seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models to fit, forecast, and monitor the landings of such data-poor fisheries. We use a European fishery on meagre (Sciaenidae: Argyrosomus regius), where only a short time series of landings was available to model (n=60 months), as our case-study. We show that despite the limited sample size, a SARIMA model could be found that adequately fitted and forecasted the time series of meagre landings (12-month forecasts; mean error: 3.5 tons (t); annual absolute percentage error: 15.4%). We derive model-based prediction intervals and show how they can be used to detect problematic situations in the fishery. Our results indicate that over the course of one year the meagre landings remained within the prediction limits of the model and therefore indicated no need for urgent management intervention. We discuss the information that SARIMA model structure conveys on the meagre lifecycle and fishery, the methodological requirements of SARIMA forecasting of data-poor fisheries landings, and the capabilities SARIMA models present within current efforts to monitor the world’s data-poorest resources.

Fish for the poor under a rising global demand and changing fishery regime

In the past, agricultural researchers tended to ignore the fisheries factor in global food and nutritional security. However, the role of fish is becoming critical as a result of changes in fisheries regimes, income distribution, demand and increasing international trade. Fish has become the fastest growing food commodity in international trade and this is raising concern for the supply of fish for poorer people. As a result, the impact of international trade regimes on fish supply and demand, and the consequences on the availability of fish for developing countries need to be studied. Policies aimed at increasing export earnings are in conflict with those aimed at increasing food security in third world countries. Fisheries policy research will need to focus on three primary areas which have an impact on the marginal and poorer communities of developing countries: increased international demand for low-value fish on the supply of poorer countries; improved aquaculture technologies and productivity on poorer and marginal farmers; and land and water allocation policy on productivity, food security and sustainability across farm, fishery and related sectors. The key to local food security is in the integration of agriculture, aquaculture and natural resources but an important focus on fisheries policy research will be to look at the linkages between societal, economic and natural systems in order to develop adequate and flexible solutions to achieve sustainable use of aquatic resources systems.

The future for fish in the food and livelihoods of the poor in Asia

This article is based on the study, Strategies and Options for Increasing and Sustaining Benefits from Fisheries and Aquaculture Production to Benefit Poor Households in Asia carried out under ADB-RETA 5945, and implemented by the WorldFish Center in partnership with nine participating Asian countries.