Governability of Small-Scale Lobster Fisheries in the Wider Caribbean

Abstract

Lobster fisheries in the Wider Caribbean region offer an interestingcase for governance analysis. From the onset, these fisheries have beenexclusively developed for the export market and have generatedconsiderable foreign exchange and extensive livelihood opportunities.While the development of the fishery in the region took place in asimilar period (between the 1950s and 1960s) with a similar end market(mainly trade to the US), and the lobster species harvested is identicalthroughout the region, the governance modes employed in differentcountries can be quite diverse. This results in differences inexploitation of the resource, value chain of the fishery and well-beingof the fisheries. However, these factors will also in turn influencegovernance and governability. This chapter will analyze the implicationsof different governing modes in three countries, Belize, Jamaica andNicaragua, on small-scale lobster fisheries. Specifically, it looks atthe commonalties and variances in the governance system and system to begoverned of lobster fisheries in the three countries, as well as thedevelopments that underlie these differences and similarities. Thechapter shows that the diversity in fisheries call for particularisticgoverning systems, and also that their diversity is actually the resultof different governing modes. The governance mode and diversity ofsystem-to-be-governed are linked by interactive relationships, andunderstanding the bi-directional interactions between them is crucial inorder to improve governability and the wellbeing of fishers and byextension the wider society. Governability assessment of the threefisheries shows that the co-governance governance mode of Belize,resulting in a fair system-to-be-governed and governing system is mostappropriate.