South Africa/Chile Fisheries Governance

Photo: Maria Hauck

Small-scale fisheries are a key source of income, poverty relief and food security for millions of people across the globe. With increased pressure on coastal and fisheries resources, conflicts exist in finding the balance between economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability. The conflicts are particularly glaring in developing countries, and clear examples exist in both South Africa and Chile.

This project provides an opportunity to assess, through an inter-disciplinary perspective, the transition from a centralised fisheries management system to a more integrated and participatory approach, highlighting challenges, opportunities and lessons learned between the two countries. The research focuses on small-scale fisheries, a fisheries sector that plays a critical role in the provision of employment and in the livelihoods of the poor in the developing world, contributing to poverty alleviation, food security and the development of local economies. This project is an exploratory collaboration that aims to develop inter-disciplinary research on small-scale fisheries governance in Chile and South Africa.

The research collaboration will draw on, and feed into, the small-scale fisheries policy process underway in South Africa and it will further draw on, and dovetail, other research being conducted in Chile by Chilean and Swedish researchers respectively to assess fisheries production and management. Thus, the research aims to examine the challenges, possibilities and benefits of novel approaches to small-scale fisheries governance in South Africa and Chile, and will aim to contribute to policy implementation on the ground, and international debates more broadly on small-scale fisheries governance. The initial planning stage of this project culminated in a workshop between South African, Chilean and Swedish researchers in order to more specifically lay out the focal points of future collaborative research.