Abstrak
In recent years concern over the mismanagement and depletion of our natural resources has grown. Innovative responses to this trend have been developed in the management of fisheries when groups or communities of fishermen and various levels of government in Canada and the United States have worked out agreements to share decision-making. This book is the first to consolidate information on the different routes by which these co-operative management arrangements have evolved. The authors include anthropologists, environmental planners, biologists, economists, fishery managers and tribal and governmental leaders. Their contributions examine the process of achieving co-management, the institutions created by co-management arrangements, and the benefits which result. Some of these benefits include more efficient and equitable management, less conflict between government and fishermen, and better co-operation between groups of fishermen. As the cost of centralized government rises and as resource-dependent regions demand greater control over development, co- operative management will become one of the most important means of regulating the use of certain natural resources. Co-operative Management of Local Fisheries looks at successes and failures of these arrangements for shared decision-making and offers guidelines for viable co-operative management.