Establishing an economically and biologically sustainable and viable inland fisheries sector in South Africa – pitfalls of path dependence’

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries play a significant role in livelihoods and food and nutrition security for millions of people around the world. However, these  benefits are under threat, especially in developing countries such as in Africa, as a result of poor governance. The historical developmentalist and  welfarist approach to management of small-scale fisheries in developing countries, dating back from colonial era, has resulted in problems of open-  access regimes that usually lead to over-capitalisation, geographic spread of landing sites that makes it difficult to organise fishers for management  activities, inadequate management capacity and poor funding of the sector. These lead to over-exploitation and degradation of fish  resources, thereby negatively impacting the current and long-term benefits for small-scale fishing communities and society at large. Most countries  that start off with such problematic fisheries management regimes and set on this path find it very difficult to reform the regimes. This article  argues that South Africa needs to draw lessons from the mistakes of other (developing) countries in terms of the type of fisheries management  regime governing small-scale fisheries, as it sets up and creates a new inland small-scale fisheries sector. Such path dependence’ can set a country  on courses of action and decisions that are extremely difficult to reverse and extricate a country from. There is no doubt of the need for more  equitable distribution of access rights and benefits to inland fisheries for communities that had been excluded and marginalised under colonialism  and apartheid. However, this has to been done without endangering the fish resources and in effect the very sustainable social-economic benefits  that such reforms intend to achieve.