Session 1. 16.

Fish is an important food in Ghana, accounting for 60% of the national dietary animal protein. However, fisheries production, mainly from capture fisheries, has declined in recent years with deficit being offset by fish imports valued at over $200 million annually. This offers opportunity for expanding the aquaculture sub sector to bridge the gap, particular among small scale farmers and youth. In 2018, the Government of Ghana launched the Aquaculture for Food and Jobs (AFJ) program to enhance fish production, create employment opportunities, and promote sustainable aquaculture practices particularly among the youth and women. This was in line with the government's medium-term vision to use the aquaculture sub-sector to increase domestic fish production and generate additional jobs along the aquaculture value chain. Following this initiative, group-based aquaculture is being undertaken in community small reservoirs, ponds and lakes across various regions in Ghana. This study unpacks lessons from different experiences of youth group-based aquaculture in 13 communities which are either supported by government or development agencies. Using the Ostrom (1990) principles, we assess the sustainability and the contributing factors of these youth group-based aquaculture projects. The preliminary findings shows that even though technical capacity building, institutional support and initial capital support are essential, social dynamics such as group cohesion, group composition and enterprise development trainings are very critical for sustainability of these projects. For projects undertaken in community owned reservoirs, acceptance of such projects by community leaders and members is pivotal. In all cases, theft, natural disasters such as flooding, high cost of fish feed, and marketing remain a challenge and there is need to identify private sector partnership, financing and insurance schemes to foster sustainability

Sustaining local collective action institutions in the management of community-managed common pool resources presents a critical challenge, requiring a nuanced understanding of the role local institutions play in achieving social sustainability. This involves addressing the subtle, informal dynamics within these institutions while being critically aware of the biases embedded in the project's institutional design. However, externally-driven initiatives often compound these challenges by underestimating the extensive time, human, and financial resources required for successful implementation. In this paper, we present an analytical framework that could be used to both understand the context-specific collective action challenge, and to assess and unpack the outcomes of collective action initiatives. We integrate elements from the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, Critical Institutional approaches, and learning processes as conceptualized by Freire in his theorization of critical consciousness. We contend that these schools of thought collectively enable us to grasp the contextual complexities involved in realizing collective action for managing common resources, particularly within agency constrained environments. This framework’s application to the study of Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia illustrates the importance of considering individual and collective histories and value systems and social hierarchies that shape decision-making and relationships between individuals and local institutions, in addition to political histories and structures, and the ways in which these shape the nature and effectiveness of collective action. This paper contributes to communicating the importance of a broad-based understanding of context and provides an integrated framework that can lead to more pragmatic interventions in support of collective action.

In today's Japan, coastal fisheries face challenges due to the rapid depopulation in many regions. However, the Sea of Okhotsk, which stretches across eastern Hokkaido, Japan, has maintained high levels of fish catch and production, and fishermen's incomes are extremely high. It is worth noting that the coastal areas of the Sea of Okhotsk were never rich in industry, which may have contributed to the challenges faced by coastal communities in the region. The high productivity of today's fishermen is a testament to the effectiveness of the resource management efforts they have put in place.

There are 10 fishery cooperatives along the Sea of Okhotsk in northeastern Hokkaido. This study focuses on the resource management of the Abashiri Fishery Cooperative Association's scallop fishery, with a particular emphasis on the role of fishermen in achieving sustainable management of the fishing grounds.

The Abashiri Fishery Cooperative holds fishing rights off the coast of Abashiri City and is one of the largest producers in the Okhotsk region. The scallop fishery in this area adopts a method of sowing in the seabed (sowing culture). This method is based on a rotational fishing method known as the “four-ring harvesting system” or “rotation system,” in which the fishing grounds are divided into 4 areas, and the fishing of adult scallops and the release of young scallops are repeated in 4-year cycles, shifting the fishing area every year. The larvae utilized in this method are procured from natural seedbeds, which are collected from floating larvae that migrate southward with the ocean currents during the spring season. The scallops are then released into the open sea, where they are nourished on the sandy seafloor and grow to become scallops, which are then harvested. This series of aquaculture technologies were developed mainly in the 1950s and 1960s.

This report examines how all fishermen strictly followed the order of use of their fishing grounds and how they achieved technical control to prevent overfishing.

The October 2000 grounding of MT Natuna Sea in Indonesian waters, resulting in a 7,000-ton crude oil spill, serves as a stark reminder of the environmental vulnerabilities facing critical maritime routes. This incident not only highlighted the fragility of straits—once symbols of international connectivity—but also emphasized the urgent need for robust governance structures to safeguard these vital resources. This paper applies Elinor Ostrom's institutional framework of the commons to conceptualize straits as shared resources, extending beyond surface waters to encompass fisheries, groundwater, and energy reserves. Through this lens, we propose three interconnected research avenues: (1) Examining maritime governance systems in relation to international law, with a focus on the applicability of Ostrom's principles to transboundary resource management. (2) Analyzing fishing policies and disputes within the context of common-pool resource theory, exploring how collaborative governance models might mitigate conflicts and promote sustainability. (3) Investigating water and energy resource management in strait regions, considering the complex interplay between local, national, and international stakeholders. By framing straits as commons, this study aims to illuminate power dynamics and actor interactions in resource management, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of maritime governance in an era of increasing environmental challenges.