4
R. Chuenpagdee et al.
Why are fi sheries in crisis worldwide (McGoodwin 1990 ; Clark 2006 ) ? What stops
us from making progress and halting the over-exploitation of inland and marine
fi sheries, as well as unsustainable coastal and ocean development (Pauly et al. 2005 ;
Roberts 2007 ) ? Why do we have a hard time de fi ning whether we need an ecosystembased, wealth-based or livelihood approach to fi sheries (see for instance, Berkes
2011 ) ? Could it be that we still do not agree on what the real concerns are or fully
understand the extent of the problems and challenges they raise for governance? We
posit that part of what is missing is a holistic perspective to examine and address
these problems, which may seem obvious and simple, but are complex and wicked
in reality. This book offers a lens and a systematic approach for analyzing the nature
of problems and challenges concerning the governance of fi sheries and aquaculture.
It explores where these problems are situated, and where potential solutions may be
found. The key concept of the current focus is governability.
This book follows the line of investigation offered in the fi rst product of the
Fisheries Governance Network ( www. fi shgovnet.org ), Fish for Life – Interactive
Governance for Fisheries (Kooiman et al. 2005 ) . In Fish for Life , which succeeded
Creative Governance (Kooiman et al. 1999 ) , we applied the theory of interactive
governance and governability, as developed by Jan Kooiman in Modern Governance
( 1993 ) and Governing as Governance ( 2003 ) , to fi sheries and aquaculture. These theoretical groundings have since been further elaborated and explored in various settings
around the world, and resulted in a series of publications, including special issues in
the Journal of Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies (Kooiman et al. 2008 ) and
Fish and Fisheries (Chuenpagdee and Sumaila 2010 ) . The conceptual framework
that this approach offers has generated a methodology to examine the characteristics
of the aquatic environment, the natural as well as the human dimensions, including
institutions governing the interactions between them. It has also stimulated the phrasing of research questions essential to addressing the complexity of the challenges
that a better governance of fi sheries and aquatic system would require.
Encouraged by the richness of the interactive governance perspective and the
governability concept, as well as the opportunities that they bring to the fi sheries
discourse, in this volume we continue to pursue what this approach may reveal in
settings where governors and stakeholders face real issues and challenges. Our
deliberation is based on the premise that these challenges are varied and can be
felt among governments and communities globally. The diagnosis of the problem
must therefore come from their interactions and align with their ideas of what the
solutions may be. Such emphasis on interactions distinguishes the interactive
governance approach from others, which tend to presume that the tasks of governing
lie either with the state or with communities.
Fish for Life contains a systematic analysis of the major, generalized and overall
features of fi shery systems that are seen as parts of a fi shing chain: from the ecosystem
to the consumer. It ends with a discussion of the governability of such systems, introduced as a diagnostic tool to understand the extent to which fi sheries systems “are
governable, i.e., have characteristics that facilitate or hamper governance” (Kooiman
et al. 2005 , 351). The assumption was, and still is, that governability of fi sheries systems
varies from one to the next, depending on the constellations of speci fi c features.
R. Chuenpagdee et al.
Why are fi sheries in crisis worldwide (McGoodwin 1990 ; Clark 2006 ) ? What stops
us from making progress and halting the over-exploitation of inland and marine
fi sheries, as well as unsustainable coastal and ocean development (Pauly et al. 2005 ;
Roberts 2007 ) ? Why do we have a hard time de fi ning whether we need an ecosystembased, wealth-based or livelihood approach to fi sheries (see for instance, Berkes
2011 ) ? Could it be that we still do not agree on what the real concerns are or fully
understand the extent of the problems and challenges they raise for governance? We
posit that part of what is missing is a holistic perspective to examine and address
these problems, which may seem obvious and simple, but are complex and wicked
in reality. This book offers a lens and a systematic approach for analyzing the nature
of problems and challenges concerning the governance of fi sheries and aquaculture.
It explores where these problems are situated, and where potential solutions may be
found. The key concept of the current focus is governability.
This book follows the line of investigation offered in the fi rst product of the
Fisheries Governance Network ( www. fi shgovnet.org ), Fish for Life – Interactive
Governance for Fisheries (Kooiman et al. 2005 ) . In Fish for Life , which succeeded
Creative Governance (Kooiman et al. 1999 ) , we applied the theory of interactive
governance and governability, as developed by Jan Kooiman in Modern Governance
( 1993 ) and Governing as Governance ( 2003 ) , to fi sheries and aquaculture. These theoretical groundings have since been further elaborated and explored in various settings
around the world, and resulted in a series of publications, including special issues in
the Journal of Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies (Kooiman et al. 2008 ) and
Fish and Fisheries (Chuenpagdee and Sumaila 2010 ) . The conceptual framework
that this approach offers has generated a methodology to examine the characteristics
of the aquatic environment, the natural as well as the human dimensions, including
institutions governing the interactions between them. It has also stimulated the phrasing of research questions essential to addressing the complexity of the challenges
that a better governance of fi sheries and aquatic system would require.
Encouraged by the richness of the interactive governance perspective and the
governability concept, as well as the opportunities that they bring to the fi sheries
discourse, in this volume we continue to pursue what this approach may reveal in
settings where governors and stakeholders face real issues and challenges. Our
deliberation is based on the premise that these challenges are varied and can be
felt among governments and communities globally. The diagnosis of the problem
must therefore come from their interactions and align with their ideas of what the
solutions may be. Such emphasis on interactions distinguishes the interactive
governance approach from others, which tend to presume that the tasks of governing
lie either with the state or with communities.
Fish for Life contains a systematic analysis of the major, generalized and overall
features of fi shery systems that are seen as parts of a fi shing chain: from the ecosystem
to the consumer. It ends with a discussion of the governability of such systems, introduced as a diagnostic tool to understand the extent to which fi sheries systems “are
governable, i.e., have characteristics that facilitate or hamper governance” (Kooiman
et al. 2005 , 351). The assumption was, and still is, that governability of fi sheries systems
varies from one to the next, depending on the constellations of speci fi c features.