Learning from an EAFM Pilot Application: a case in Trapeang Ropov Village, Kampot Province, Cambodia

Abstract

The 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) includes provisions that call for the promotion of an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) (FAO, 1995). As signatory to the CCRF, the ASEAN Member States (AMSs) recognized that the promotion of EAFM concept is crucial in the region, and agreed to promote EAFM in the Southeast Asian region in accordance with the adopted the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Resolution and Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security Towards 2020 “Fish for the People 2020” (SEAFDEC, 2011). Specifically, Resolution No. 6 encourages SEAFDEC and the AMSs to “Implement effective management of fisheries through an ecosystem approach to fisheries that integrates habitat and fishery resource management aimed at increasing the social and economic benefits to all stakeholders, especially through delegating selected management functions to the local level and promoting co-management as a partnership between government and relevant stakeholders,” while Plan of Action (POA No. 8) directs SEAFDEC and the AMSs to “Accelerate the development of fisheries management plans based on an ecosystem approach, as a basis for fisheries conservation and management,” and POA No.10 to “Establish and implement comprehensive policies for an ecosystem approach to fisheries management through effective systems — (i) to provide licenses to fish (boats, gear and people); (ii) for community fishing rights/rightsbased fisheries; (iii) that provide for the development of supporting legal and institutional frameworks; (iv) that encourage institutional cooperation; and (v) that aid in streamlining co-management.” For the part of SEAFDEC, the EAFM concept had been promoted in different ways in several AMSs in collaboration with other regional and international organizations to enable the AMSs to boost the development of sustainable and responsible fisheries in their respective countries.