Aquaculture is instrumental for increasing global fish production, but its ecological effects can create new pressures on the fishing grounds that small-scale fisheries (SSFs) depend on. As a result, achievement of SDGs 1 (end poverty) and 2 (end hunger) in societies of the Global South is compromised, and that of SDG14 (sustainable marine resources) is complicated. Using new evidence from Lake Victoria, which harbors Africa’s largest inland SSFs and a fast-growing aquaculture industry, this chapter examines how science, technology, and innovation (STI) can support ecologically and socially sustainable governance of fisheries resources. The author argues that a sustainable expansion of aquaculture needs to protect the natural resources that small fishers depend on while maximizing their ability to benefit from fish-farming. STI-based solutions, if integrated in a transformation governance approach, can secure and expand contributions from capture fisheries and aquaculture to help achieve SDGs 1, 2, and 14. The concept of transformation governance is based on a threefold structure: to increase eco-efficiency, redistribute access to natural resources, and recognize eco-sufficiency as a guiding principle. By applying this threefold resource-governance approach, the potential for STI-based solutions to provide greater overall eco-efficiency is utilized, restrictions on total resource use prevent rebound effects, and the principle of redistribution promotes a focus on appropriate technologies for small-scale resource users.
Decline in Fish Stock and Livelihood of Small-Scale Fisheries in Shores of Lake Victoria, Tanzania
