Title:
Fish Capture and Culture in Agro-Ecosystems: A New Concept for
Old Practice?
Authors:
Sophie Nguyen-Khoa, Challenge Program on Water and Food (Sri Lanka)
Martin van Brakel, Challenge Program on Water and Food (Sri Lanka)
Abstract:
Modern fisheries management is strongly based on ecosystem theory.
Ecosystem management involves direct manipulation of the habitat and
population as well as human activity in order to optimize sustainable
returns to humans. The ecosystems approach is widely viewed as a new
concept in management of fisheries and aquaculture. Ecosystems based
management has however a long history of practice in rain fed and flood
prone agro-ecosystems in China and Southeast Asia. Inland fisheries and
aquaculture are inseparable components of these systems. We argue that
aquatic resource management problems cannot be addressed without due
consideration of their socio-economic and agro-ecological context. We
conclude that conventional ecosystem based management does not
sufficiently capture the complex linkages between inland fisheries and
aquaculture, and wider services provided by the ecosystems of which they
are part. Inland fisheries and aquaculture management instead should be
based on agro-ecosystems management concepts in order to better capture
their social and economic objectives within the context of overall
ecosystem service provision.