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J.J. Pascual-Fernández and R. Chuenpagdee
user groups from their traditional activities due to changes in the market or the
overexploitation of resources. This happened to artisanal fi shers in many coastal
areas or inland waters in Africa after the entrance of more powerful industrial fl eets.
Two processes in this area deserve special attention. The introduction of trawling
and the generalization of aquaculture have introduced systemic changes in the fi sh
chain, as well as in the dynamics and scale of the ecosystem.
The Development of Trawling and Gear Con fl icts
From a technological perspective, one of the most prominent changes in fi sheries
in the last century came with the progressive development of trawlers. This technology has a long history in the West, fi rst appearing in the form of sailing trawlers in the latter Middle Ages, but its evolution during nineteenth and twentieth
centuries is closely linked to the adoption of onboard steam and diesel engines.
These advances increased trawler capacity to not only extract resources, but also
to alter the ocean fl oor (Roberts 2007 ) . Later in the twentieth century, this technology was extended all over the world. In Southeast Asia, for example, trawls
were fi rst used in Manila Bay at the end of the Second World War, before spreading throughout the whole region in the early 1960s (Butcher 2004 ) . Trawling, a
non-selective fi shing method that results in a mixture of target and non-target species, including juveniles and young fi sh, is an intensive operation that cannot be
sustained. In the Gulf of Thailand, for instance, catches from trawling started to
decline from 300 kg of catch per hour in 1961 to only about 50 kg/h in the 1980s,
and eventually to 20–30 kg/h in the 1990s (Eiamsa-Ard and Amornchairojkul
1997 ) . The decline in catch per effort was accompanied by changes in catch composition (e.g., more small and short-lived species, including ‘trash fi sh’), after
which the ‘ fi shing down the food web’ phenomena followed (Pauly and
Chuenpagdee 2003 ) . In addition to causing ecosystem effects, including habitat
destruction and bycatches, trawling competes directly (in terms of space and target species) with other small-scale and stationary fi shing gear, such as pots and
traps, creating con fl icts among fi shers. While many countries have regulations
that prevent trawling from operating close to shore, gear con fl icts between fi shing
sectors remain one of the key governability issues related to both ecosystem health
and social justice. It is important to remember that the governments of many
countries heavily subsidized the development of trawling fl eets. Bearing in mind
their signi fi cant contribution to the world’s fi sheries production, more support at
international and national levels needs to be given to small-scale fi sheries,
(Chuenpagdee et al. 2006 ; Chuenpagdee 2011 ) . While it is true that some smallscale fi shing practices also damage the ecosystem, namely those that involve the
use of cyanide and bomb blasting, the overall impact from this sector is still relatively low in comparison to the large-scale fi sheries. Importantly, the contribution
of small-scale fi sheries to the society, in terms of jobs, income and livelihoods, is
a lot greater than that of industrial fi sheries (Pauly 2006 ) .
J.J. Pascual-Fernández and R. Chuenpagdee
user groups from their traditional activities due to changes in the market or the
overexploitation of resources. This happened to artisanal fi shers in many coastal
areas or inland waters in Africa after the entrance of more powerful industrial fl eets.
Two processes in this area deserve special attention. The introduction of trawling
and the generalization of aquaculture have introduced systemic changes in the fi sh
chain, as well as in the dynamics and scale of the ecosystem.
The Development of Trawling and Gear Con fl icts
From a technological perspective, one of the most prominent changes in fi sheries
in the last century came with the progressive development of trawlers. This technology has a long history in the West, fi rst appearing in the form of sailing trawlers in the latter Middle Ages, but its evolution during nineteenth and twentieth
centuries is closely linked to the adoption of onboard steam and diesel engines.
These advances increased trawler capacity to not only extract resources, but also
to alter the ocean fl oor (Roberts 2007 ) . Later in the twentieth century, this technology was extended all over the world. In Southeast Asia, for example, trawls
were fi rst used in Manila Bay at the end of the Second World War, before spreading throughout the whole region in the early 1960s (Butcher 2004 ) . Trawling, a
non-selective fi shing method that results in a mixture of target and non-target species, including juveniles and young fi sh, is an intensive operation that cannot be
sustained. In the Gulf of Thailand, for instance, catches from trawling started to
decline from 300 kg of catch per hour in 1961 to only about 50 kg/h in the 1980s,
and eventually to 20–30 kg/h in the 1990s (Eiamsa-Ard and Amornchairojkul
1997 ) . The decline in catch per effort was accompanied by changes in catch composition (e.g., more small and short-lived species, including ‘trash fi sh’), after
which the ‘ fi shing down the food web’ phenomena followed (Pauly and
Chuenpagdee 2003 ) . In addition to causing ecosystem effects, including habitat
destruction and bycatches, trawling competes directly (in terms of space and target species) with other small-scale and stationary fi shing gear, such as pots and
traps, creating con fl icts among fi shers. While many countries have regulations
that prevent trawling from operating close to shore, gear con fl icts between fi shing
sectors remain one of the key governability issues related to both ecosystem health
and social justice. It is important to remember that the governments of many
countries heavily subsidized the development of trawling fl eets. Bearing in mind
their signi fi cant contribution to the world’s fi sheries production, more support at
international and national levels needs to be given to small-scale fi sheries,
(Chuenpagdee et al. 2006 ; Chuenpagdee 2011 ) . While it is true that some smallscale fi shing practices also damage the ecosystem, namely those that involve the
use of cyanide and bomb blasting, the overall impact from this sector is still relatively low in comparison to the large-scale fi sheries. Importantly, the contribution
of small-scale fi sheries to the society, in terms of jobs, income and livelihoods, is
a lot greater than that of industrial fi sheries (Pauly 2006 ) .