World fish stocks are running dangerously low. Only 20 per cent of global fishery resources are moderately exploited according to the FAO. The remaining stocks are either fully exploited (52 per cent) with no further increases anticipated, overexploited (19 per cent) or depleted (8 per cent). Only 1 per cent are on track to recovering from previous depletion. If current trends continue, we are very likely to see ‘fishless oceans’ by 2050.

This would be a tragedy not just for the oceans’ ecosystems, but for the people that rely on them to survive. Globally, some 43.5 million people work directly...

Marine and coastal resources provide millions of impoverished people across the global South with livelihoods. They provide the world with a range of critical ‘ecosystem services’, from biodiversity and culture to carbon storage and flood protection (Mohammed 2012) to recreation and amenity opportunities (Whitmash 2011). Fisheries provide multiple benefits to poor and impoverished coastal communities in developing countries. Fish is a major source of food for many poor and vulnerable communities. Some 43.5 million people are employed directly by fisheries, with a great majority in developing countries (FAO 2008). Once those who work in associated processing, marketing, distribution and supply...

There is no any commonly agreed definition of fisheries management. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has adopted a working definition of fisheries management as:

the integrated process of information gathering, analysis, planning, consultation, decision-making, allocation of resources and formulation and implementation, with enforcement as necessary, of regulations or rules which govern fisheries activities in order to ensure the continued productivity of the resources and the accomplishment of other fisheries objectives. (Cochrane 2002: 7)

According to Cochrane (2002), fisheries management involves a complex set of activities with the underlying goal of achieving sustained optimal benefits from the resources. The definition...

Providing direct economic incentives in the form of a reward or compensation can enhance the effectiveness of regulatory schemes. In this section we discuss how direct economic incentive mechanisms (from now on referred to as incentive mechanisms) can be added to some of the most widely used regulatory approaches: (1) imposing temporal and special fishing restrictions i.e. off/closed seasons or protected areas; (2) restoring coastal habitats; (3) conserving endangered species; and (4) regulating fishing practices (Figure 1).

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are areas of coastal land and water that are specifically designated to protect natural resources and ecosystems (Coral 2005)....

Section 3 discussed a number of ways in which incentive mechanisms can either replace or complement existing regulatory measures for marine and coastal ecosystem conservation. In order for them to be successful, however, there are some challenges or limiting factors that need to be considered while designing direct economic incentive schemes.

It has long been recognised that a lack of clearly defined property rights in coastal ecosystems has led to unsustainable natural resource use such as overfishing and consequent threats to biodiversity. To overcome these problems, recognition of the customary rights of the communities to access coastal resource is crucial....

Hilsa is an anadromous fish, meaning that it migrates from the sea into freshwater to spawn. It inhabits the coastal regions from the Mekong estuary of Vietnam to the Persian Gulf (Pillay and Rosa 1963). There are three species of Hilsa, the largest being Tenualosa ilisha, which makes up 99 per cent of total Hilsa catches in the Bay of Bengal region (Rahman, M.A. et al. 2012). The Bay of Bengal is the major producing region for this species, from where it migrates to the rivers Padma and Meghna and their tributaries for breeding and spawning (Rahman, M.J. 2006). It...

Fisheries provide millions of people with a livelihood source. Yet across the world, these resources are fast diminishing because of pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing, natural disasters, and climate changes. Traditional approaches to halt this decline have focused on regulating against destructive practices, but to little effect. Establishing a direct economic incentive mechanism such as payments for ecosystem services, or incorporating elements of it into existing regulatory mechanisms could be a more successful strategy. Land-based examples, along with a few aquatic ones, suggest that economic incentive-based mechanisms can work to protect both livelihoods and environments. But to succeed, these schemes must...