5
1 Governability – New Directions in Fisheries Governance
The present volume continues where Fish for Life left off, highlighting governability
as “the overall capacity for governance” of a societal system (see Chap. 2 by Kooiman
and Bavinck this volume). However, rather than venturing straight away into the outline of an assessment framework, we begin by providing theoretical foundations for
investigating major concerns in fi sheries and aquaculture, followed by applying the
governability concept in real world situations.
Part I contains this introductory chapter and Chap. 2 , which revisits the concept
and theory behind the interactive governance approach and governability. Part II
investigates governability from the viewpoint of the four societal concerns that are
highlighted in Fish for Life – ecosystem health, social justice, livelihood, and food
security. These concerns are examined for the role they play in enhancing or inhibiting governability. The diversity, complexity, dynamics and scale associated with the
systems-to-be-governed, the governing system and their interactions are portrayed
in light of these concerns. Part III applies a governability perspective to speci fi c
themes and topics in fi sheries and aquaculture. These include issues related to trawl
fi sheries in India, marine protected areas in Spain, salmon farming in Canada and
Norway, gender relations in Galician shell fi sh gathering, and poverty in small-scale
fi sheries in Lake Victoria. In Part IV, we provide an overview of approaches and
methods that can be utilized to examine various aspects of fi sheries systems that
impact on governability. Chapters in this part illustrate some of these methods as
they are applied in the real world situations, including the Caribbean and Malawi.
Part V is about looking forward. It examines the next steps necessary for a full and
systematic assessment of governability that can be applied to fi sheries, aquaculture
and other contexts. By drawing on the lessons provided in earlier chapters, the fi nal
two chapters offer both an analytical framework and some general re fl ections.
Like Fish for Life , this volume “stands somewhere between an academic
monograph and a multi-author, edited volume” (Kooiman et al. 2005 , 8). The nucleus
of the author group has been working together on interactive governance for over a
decade. Added to the list of authors are younger scholars who have been attracted by
the potentialities of the interactive governance approach for fi sheries and aquaculture.
While each author (set of authors) is of course responsible for the content of the chapter
to which their name is attached, and the volume allows for a diversity of insights, the
editors have made deliberate efforts to compose an integrated perspective.
Although originating in the social sciences, the book’s ambit is inter-, if not
transdisciplinary. The author group consists of representatives from a range of social
science disciplines, as well as economists and marine biologists. All of us have made
efforts to master the interactive governance perspective and to infuse it with our own
insights from our experiences on the ground. In so doing, we have crossed many
disciplinary boundaries and hopefully contributed to a more holistic approach.
While the present chapter explains why we believe this book is needed, the next
chapter by Kooiman and Bavinck (Chap. 2 ) provides the theoretical foundation
underlying the interactive governance and governability approach. It places an
emphasis on the governing roles and interactions between state, market and civil
society, by examining two inter-related systems, i.e., a system-to-be-governed, a
governing system, and the governing interactions mediating between them. Together,
1 Governability – New Directions in Fisheries Governance
The present volume continues where Fish for Life left off, highlighting governability
as “the overall capacity for governance” of a societal system (see Chap. 2 by Kooiman
and Bavinck this volume). However, rather than venturing straight away into the outline of an assessment framework, we begin by providing theoretical foundations for
investigating major concerns in fi sheries and aquaculture, followed by applying the
governability concept in real world situations.
Part I contains this introductory chapter and Chap. 2 , which revisits the concept
and theory behind the interactive governance approach and governability. Part II
investigates governability from the viewpoint of the four societal concerns that are
highlighted in Fish for Life – ecosystem health, social justice, livelihood, and food
security. These concerns are examined for the role they play in enhancing or inhibiting governability. The diversity, complexity, dynamics and scale associated with the
systems-to-be-governed, the governing system and their interactions are portrayed
in light of these concerns. Part III applies a governability perspective to speci fi c
themes and topics in fi sheries and aquaculture. These include issues related to trawl
fi sheries in India, marine protected areas in Spain, salmon farming in Canada and
Norway, gender relations in Galician shell fi sh gathering, and poverty in small-scale
fi sheries in Lake Victoria. In Part IV, we provide an overview of approaches and
methods that can be utilized to examine various aspects of fi sheries systems that
impact on governability. Chapters in this part illustrate some of these methods as
they are applied in the real world situations, including the Caribbean and Malawi.
Part V is about looking forward. It examines the next steps necessary for a full and
systematic assessment of governability that can be applied to fi sheries, aquaculture
and other contexts. By drawing on the lessons provided in earlier chapters, the fi nal
two chapters offer both an analytical framework and some general re fl ections.
Like Fish for Life , this volume “stands somewhere between an academic
monograph and a multi-author, edited volume” (Kooiman et al. 2005 , 8). The nucleus
of the author group has been working together on interactive governance for over a
decade. Added to the list of authors are younger scholars who have been attracted by
the potentialities of the interactive governance approach for fi sheries and aquaculture.
While each author (set of authors) is of course responsible for the content of the chapter
to which their name is attached, and the volume allows for a diversity of insights, the
editors have made deliberate efforts to compose an integrated perspective.
Although originating in the social sciences, the book’s ambit is inter-, if not
transdisciplinary. The author group consists of representatives from a range of social
science disciplines, as well as economists and marine biologists. All of us have made
efforts to master the interactive governance perspective and to infuse it with our own
insights from our experiences on the ground. In so doing, we have crossed many
disciplinary boundaries and hopefully contributed to a more holistic approach.
While the present chapter explains why we believe this book is needed, the next
chapter by Kooiman and Bavinck (Chap. 2 ) provides the theoretical foundation
underlying the interactive governance and governability approach. It places an
emphasis on the governing roles and interactions between state, market and civil
society, by examining two inter-related systems, i.e., a system-to-be-governed, a
governing system, and the governing interactions mediating between them. Together,