Local Fisheries Co-management: A Review of International Experiences and Their Implications for Salmon Management in British Columbia
The theory and practice of community-based self-management and government–community co-management is examined in terms of the potential of these management systems to address some of the major biological, economic, and political problems of the salmon fishery of British Columbia, Canada. Particular attention is given to government–multiparty arrangements that integrate the concerns of multiple interests, while recognizing the special rights of aboriginal communities. Elements identified as key to the success of various arrangements include: (1) logistical arrangements, such as clear boundaries, membership criteria, interception agreements, and management-unit sizes appropriate to the abundance of natural and human resources; (2) cost-sharing arrangements, such as local cost recovery and local volunteerism; (3) power-sharing arrangements through checks and balances between local multiparty boards, a provincial board, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The processes engendering social learning, through which government and local bodies could move toward such regimes, are discussed through a review of relevant literature on interorganizational conflict resolution, public policy, and organizational learning. Many of the elements of success of both arrangements and processes are likely to apply to a broad range of fisheries co-management situations.