Community-Based Fisheries Management in Tropical Ecosystems

Community-based fisheries management (CBFM) has emerged as a vital approach to sustaining fish stocks and supporting livelihoods within tropical marine and freshwater environments. By entrusting local fishers and community councils with governance over fishing grounds, CBFM fosters stewardship through participatory decision-making, adaptive regulation of gear and seasons, and integration of ecological monitoring. Across coral reefs, mangroves, floodplains and estuaries, this model balances conservation goals with the socioeconomic needs of artisanal and subsistence fishers. Key features include locally defined spatial closures and quotas, the blending of traditional ecological knowledge with scientific assessment, and institutional linkages between communities and regional authorities. Collectively, these elements contribute to resilience against overfishing, habitat degradation and climate variability, while enhancing food security, cultural identity and equitable resource access in many of the world’s most biodiverse but vulnerable tropical regions.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Seminal work on a community-led programme in the Amazon basin demonstrated how local management of a large freshwater fish species can drive rapid stock recovery and generate substantial socioeconomic benefits. Over an eight-year monitoring period, protected lakes managed by riverine communities saw population increases of the focal species from single digits to averages exceeding three hundred individuals, compared with open-access areas. This initiative, grounded in community-enforced no-take zones and collective counting protocols, not only ensured sustainable yields but also translated into a reliable supplement to household incomes, illustrating a model that harmonises biodiversity conservation with poverty alleviation.

Community-Based Fisheries Management in Tropical Ecosystems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in community-based fisheries management in tropical ecosystems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Community-based fisheries management (CBFM): A governance approach in which local resource users share responsibility and authority for managing fish stocks and fishing practices in their own communities.

Co-management: A collaborative management arrangement where responsibilities and decision-making are shared between local communities and external stakeholders such as government agencies or NGOs.

Social-ecological system (SES): An integrated concept recognising the interdependence of human societies and ecological processes within a given environmental context.

Cultural keystone species: Species that hold significant cultural, symbolic or spiritual importance for a community and often play central roles in local conservation and livelihood strategies.

References

1. Community-based management induces rapid recovery of a high-value tropical freshwater fishery. Scientific Reports (2016).
2. Complementary Role of Fishers’ Experiential Knowledge to Conventional Science in Terms of Species-Specific Biological Traits and Population Changes in Azorean Waters. Biology (2023).
3. Co‐management of culturally important species: A tool to promote biodiversity conservation and human well‐being. People and Nature (2019).
4. Fish consumption on the Amazon: a review of biodiversity, hydropower and food security issues. Brazilian Journal of Biology (2019).