Understanding fishers’ spatial behaviour to estimate social costs in local conservation planning ANDREA PAULINE COOMBS WALLACE B.Sc., Trent University, 1994 M.Sc., University of British Columbia, 2004 A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON Centre for Environmental Policy / Division of Ecology and Evolution October 2012 © Andrea Pauline Coombs Wallace, 2012 Declaration This thesis is the result of my own work. The work of all others is appropriately acknowledged and referenced in the text. Andrea Pauline Coombs Wallace, 2012 2 Abstract Artisanal fisheries are a key source of food and income for millions of people worldwide. However, unmanaged or excessive fishing activity can lead to declining returns for fishing effort and livelihood insecurity, and adversely impact wetland ecosystems. Management interventions such as protected areas and temporal closures may improve fishery sustainability and reduce environmental degradation, but often carry costs for fishers. Understanding predictors of fishing behaviour would allow conservation planning to minimise the adverse impacts of interventions, increasing the likelihood of fisher support for change. However, factors influencing fishers’ behaviour are rarely identified or taken into account when implementing conservation actions. Madagascar’s Lake Alaotra wetland supports the nation’s largest and most productive artisanal freshwater fishery, and provides critical habitat for endemic wildlife. Local fishers depend on the fishery for livelihood throughout the year. Catch-monitoring interviews, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and follows were conducted over 16 months with 784 fishers at Lake Alaotra to understand the socioeconomic dynamics of the fishery. Although information from fishers was sometimes imprecise, participatory monitoring methods engaged fishers and improved understanding of system dynamics. Linear mixed models confirmed that proposed restricted areas and temporal closures would generate direct short-term costs through reduced catch sizes, which vary between gear types. Socioeconomic data, spatial distribution of fishing effort, and fishers’ evaluations of management scenarios were used to explore alternative strategies. The conservation planning tool Marxan was used to identify reserve networks capable of achieving conservation goals while minimising adverse impacts for fishers. The research demonstrates that: interventions can have unequal impacts on local people; information about costs and benefits of interventions can produce more realistic and implementable conservation plans; and actively engaging fishers and understanding their spatial behaviour at relevant scales is critical for managing fisheries sustainably and promoting effective long-term conservation of freshwater ecosystems. 3 Acknowledgements Firstly, many thanks to my supervisors, Professor E.J. Milner-Gulland, Dr Emily Nicholson, Dr Julia Jones, and Dr Richard Young for your unwavering support, guidance, and patience. Your thorough and constructive comments on my work have greatly improved my critical thinking and this thesis. Each of you has been an inspiration! I also thank the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK for providing financial support for this research. The Imperial College Conservation Science (ICCS) lab is an amazing research group and my PhD experience would not have been as enjoyable without them. Many thanks to Emily, Sarah, and Ana for being great office mates, Tim and Joe for the frequent “coffee/hot water?” calls and for reminding us when lunchtime was approaching, and Nils for always being entertaining and super helpful with stats! I will miss the ‘core group’. Thanks also to all ICCS predecessors (Aidan, Matt, Caroline, Kerry) and successors (Hanna, Henry, James) for your friendship and great discussions. Thanks also go to the Silwood accommodation office for giving us a home after fieldwork. Many thanks to the Durrell team in Madagascar, particularly Bary-Jean Rasolonjatovo and Jonah Ratsimbazafy who provided invaluable orientation and support. Lala Jean Rakotoniaina was a key source of local information and greatly assisted me with translations from Malagasy to French as well as explaining the traditional Anororo calendar. Hasina Randriamanampisoa sorted out all our administration, permit, and visa requirements. I thank the rest of the staff at the Durrell office in Antananarivo (Richard, Aina, Ony, Juliette, Lynda, Emma, Lance, and Herizo) for welcoming Graham and I to Madagascar and making us feel instantly like part of the team. I also thank the staff of the government institutions in Ambatondrazaka who kindly gave their time to meet with us when we first arrived, as well as on several occasions thereafter, including staff from the Service Régional de la Pêche et des Ressources Halieutiques (Fisheries Service), the Ministère des Eaux et Forêts (Ministry of Water and Forests), and the Fédération des Pêcheurs (Federation of Fishers), as well as the 4 Department of Environment & Forest (DREF) for approving our research permits. Many thanks to M. Jarrel Rabemazava for providing access to the library at the Fisheries Service as well as offering his assistance when needed. I am particularly grateful to the Mayor, Simon Mosahalison, and Deputy Mayor, Jean Desiré, of Anororo for welcoming Graham and I into Anororo village, granting permission to conduct this research, and for their interest in the study. Joachin Randriarilala, Solofoniaina Esperant Rakotonisainana, and Luhanaud Andriamiarivola were extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and hard-working research assistants who ensured the project ran smoothly and was a success in the field. Many thanks to M. Rabemanisa, our tireless paddler and key informant, who always managed to keep the canoe steady despite us, and to Narcisse and Ravo Andriamizana who also helped with paddling and data collection. Immeasurable thanks go to our hosts in Anororo, Mme Aimee and M. Robin, who took us into their home and always looked after us. I will always remember our dinner conversations rifling through our English-Malagasy dictionaries to understand what we were trying to say to each other, or teaching Fensoa numbers and letters in English. I am very grateful to Rado Zilia Randriamihamina for arranging our host family, finding research assistants, and helping with data collection when time permitted. Thanks also go to Mme Eleonore for all our pharmaceutical needs. I am extremely indebted to the fishers and community of Anororo village for their participation, support, and enthusiasm for the project. Misaotra betsaka for your friendship and for sharing your knowledge and time. And above all ... Thank you to my father, J. Allen Coombs, for his inspiration and confidence in me. This one’s for you Dad! And to Graham, my pillar of strength and support throughout. Thank you for being you. 5 Table of Contents Declaration ..................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 4 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... 6 List of Figures .............................................................................................................. 11 List of Tables ............................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 24 1.1 Problem statement ......................................................................................... 24 1.2 Aim and research objectives ......................................................................... 27 1.3 Thesis outline ................................................................................................ 28 Chapter 2 RESEARCH BACKGROUND & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 30 2.1 Literature review ........................................................................................... 30 2.1.1 Social-ecological systems ...................................................................... 30 2.1.2 The need for social dimensions in conservation planning and management .......................................................................................................... 31 2.1.3 Local people and natural resource management .................................... 34 2.1.4 Fisheries and fishery management ......................................................... 37 2.1.4.1 Inland fisheries ............................................................................... 37 2.1.4.2 Small-scale inland fisheries ............................................................ 38 2.1.4.3 Fishery management ....................................................................... 39 2.1.5 Governance and management ................................................................ 42 2.1.6 Adaptive management ........................................................................... 43 2.1.7 Monitoring ............................................................................................. 45 2.1.8 Systematic conservation planning.........................................................