Assessing the Governability of a Small-Scale Coral Reef Fishery Using the Social-Ecological System Approach: (The Case Study of Ranobe Bay, Madagascar)

Abstract

On the southwest coast of Madagascar, small-scale coral reef fisheries (SSCRFs) play a crucial role in the daily lives and economy of local fishing communities. This fishery is a vibrant activity in the southwestern part of Madagascar. Understanding the components of these SSCRFs, their nature of interactions, and the resulting outcomes is crucial for designing policies that promote equitable and sustainable fisheries. Additionally, evaluating the management capacity of these SSCRFs is essential, as the resulting outcomes are vital in enhancing management strategies that promote an equitable and sustainable fishery. The traditional command-and-control approach appears outdated, highlighting the need for a more modern and adaptive approach. This research aims to explore the structure and the characteristics of Ranobe Bay CRFs in Madagascar using the Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework and network analysis as well as to assess the governance performance of Ranobe Bay SSCRF in Madagascar using the Social-Ecological Systems (SES) approach. This research was conducted between September and October 2024, requiring primary data from field observations, interviews involving the fisheries stakeholders, and secondary data from literature studies. The Socio-Ecological Network Analysis (SENA) was used to analyze the connectivity of the CRFs in this region. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was also used to determine the weight of each SES parameter, followed by conducting the Governance Performance Analysis (GPA) based on these results to get the performance score. The research findings of the SENA results showed that this fishery is heavily centered around the fishermen's community: the Masikoro and the Vezo as the main actors of this activity. Nevertheless, the clustering analysis reveals a high number of clusters, highlighting a fragmented SES structure and low system connectivity. The research findings of the GPA revealed that the overall performance score (Op) is 0.1032, which places it within the "Very low" category according to the performance evaluation index indicating that while the governance system has some weaknesses, it is currently operating at a low level of effectiveness, with room for improvement in several critical areas. Ranobe Bay's CRFs' sustainability depends on fishermen's central connectivity within the network, which can be strengthened through improved policies and management to ensure effective governance. Indeed, Ranobe Bay's CRFs' sustainability needs the implementation of a new policy formulation and law enforcement that requires more cohesion and engagement among all stakeholders.