Case GM-2 Resource co-management through rights delegation: case study of legal framework in Gambian resource co-management

legal framework, exclusive fishing rights, delegation of fishing management authority, Special Management Zones, NASCOM (National Sole fisheries Co-management Committee), Sole Co-Management Plan, TRY Oyster Women Association, Oyster and Cockle Co-Management Plan, Exclusive Utilization Rights, UNDP Equator Prize

How did the Gambian government incorporate the concept and system of resource co-management into its fisheries policy?

The foundation of collaborative fisheries resource management in The Gambia is based on the 2006 Fisheries Policy, the 2007 Fisheries Act, and the 2008 Fisheries Regulations. The 2007 Fisheries Act granted the Ministry of Fisheries the authority to declare Special Management Areas aimed at community-based fisheries management. It also allowed for the delegation of fisheries management within these Special Management Areas to fisheries organisations. Two practical examples of the application of this system are described below.

Management of sole resources
Sole, one of the major fish species in Gambian fisheries, experienced a rapid increase in catch from 250 metric tons in 1981 to 2,250 metric tons in 2001, followed by a decline until 2009. To address this situation, the National Sole Fisheries Co-management Committee (NASCOM) was established in September 2010. In 2012, NASCOM, representing fishermen, middlemen, seafood export companies, and others, formulated a co-management plan for Sole fisheries. This plan was officially approved by the government in 2013, and it included a six-month ban on all fishing activities within one nautical mile of the coast from 1 May to 31 October, which is considered the spawning period for sole. While this measure aims to protect sole resources, it was necessary to prohibit all fishing activities owing to the difficulty of monitoring selective fishing for sole and the likelihood of bycatch in other fishing methods.
The government approved the co-management plan submitted by NASCOM and designated the area within one nautical mile of the coast as a Special Management Area. The government also delegated the fisheries management authority within the Special Management Area to NASCOM. Since then, collaborative resource management between the government and NASCOM has been ongoing.

Management of oyster resources
Women engaged in oyster collection in Tanbi, at the mouth of the Gambia River, organized the TRY Oyster Women Association in 2007. They created a co-management plan for shellfish resources, including oysters, called the Oyster and Cockle Co-Management Plan for the Tanbi Wetlands National Park (TWNP). This plan was approved by the government in January 2012, and the Tanbi Wetlands National Park was designated as a Special Management Area. Exclusive rights to the use of shellfish resources, including oysters, within the designated area and authority over resource management were delegated from the government to the TRY Oyster Women Association.

The TRY Oyster Women Association established a four-month harvesting period from March to June, with the rest of the year designated as a closed season. This initiative, led by a women’s organisation from a marginalized fishing village, represents the first attempt of its kind in Africa, where a grassroots organisation formulated a fisheries resource plan and assumed responsibility for resource management. In recognition of this achievement, the organisation received the UNDP Equator Prize in 2012.

The foundational fisheries organisations for collaborative resource management in Senegal, as introduced in ‘Case 2-2 Case of the CLPA, a fisheries resource management organisation in Senegal’, are as described. Senegal relies on locally embedded CLPAs as the basis for fisheries resource co-management,⁸ with these CLPAs responsible for determining management rules. In contrast, in The Gambia, the central government first approves the resource co-management plan, designates special management areas, and then designates specific organisations within these special management areas to be entrusted with exclusive resource use rights and resource management responsibilities and authority. This represents a difference in approach between the two countries.

Chapter 4 Strengthening the role and practical capacity of administration

The legal framework for resource management means that management regulations, such as fishing effort limitation measures implemented by resource management organisations with the support of administrative agencies, are enforceable as laws and ordinances, and that the legal basis (control authority) for monitoring and control activities by resource management organisations based on the ‘resource management plan’ is established.

Senegal and The Gambia have different frameworks for joint resource management. When neighbouring countries consider a framework for joint resource management or revise their current legal frameworks, the different legal frameworks for joint resource management in Senegal and The Gambia can be used as a reference.