Tropical River Fisheries Valuation

This review presents summary information on 45 river and great lake basins of the world, which support inland fisheries. The information presented is drawn from published information in peer-reviewed journals as well as grey literature. Each basin summary is presented in a common format, covering the description of the fishery, estimates of catch and numbers of people engaged in the fishery, important biodiversity features and threats to the fishery. An analysis of the replacement costs of inland fish of the basin is also presented. This is expressed in terms of the water, land and greenhouse gas footprint that would arise if the inland fish that are currently produced had to be replaced with other forms of food (such as aquaculture fish, livestock or field crops).

The third and main section of the document discusses ways of increasing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to poverty alleviation and food security through nine main entry points. First, the paper revisits conventional fisheries policies and legislation and makes suggestions on how those can be made more pro-poor. Next, the paper emphasizes the importance of capacity building and highlights how cross-sectoral interventions can greatly improve the livelihoods of fish-dependent communities. The paper then proposes a series of broad pro-poor or pro-small-scale fisheries principles, before discussing in greater detail three of the main management instruments adopted in fisheries: (i) property right approaches; (ii) co-management; and (iii) protected areas. The next two sub-sections discuss markets and how to make them work for the poor, and the important issue of pro-poor financing systems and subsidies.

Conventional wisdom says that the world is heading for a major water crisis. By 2050, global population will increase from 7 billion to a staggering 9.5 billion and the demands this will place on food and water systems will inevitably push river basins over the edge. The findings from this book present a different picture. While it is convenient to visualize an inevitable global water and food crisis in which increasing demands result in increasing poverty, food insecurity and conflict, the reality is far more nuanced and revolves around the politics of equitable and sustainable development of resources. The first part of this book provides detailed insight into conditions of water flows within nine river basins. In the second part, authors summarize and re-analyze the outcome of the nine basins, providing a coherent global picture of water, water productivity and development. They assess the impacts of variations of these attributes on development and approaches for poverty alleviation, and explore the institutional factors that support or obstruct change. How people will manage river systems while protecting vital ecosystem functions will make the difference between catastrophe and survival. As Prof Asit Biswas points out, "... the world is facing a water crisis not because of physical scarcity of water but because of poor management practices in nearly all countries of the world." The book is based on the four years (2006-2010) of extensive research into the state of ten of the world’s major river basins carried out under the CGIAR Challenge Program for Water and Food’s Basin Focal Project. This book was published as a special issue of Water International.

The FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Circular C942 Revision 3 (C942 Rev. 3) updates and expands the scope of previous revisions of the circular. C942 Rev. 3 is an important baseline document, intended to assist in the global understanding of inland fisheries and inform dialogue on their current and future role. The third revision reviews the status and trends of inland fisheries catch at global, continental and subcontinental levels. It places inland capture fisheries in the context of overall global fish production, and calls attention to the importance of inland capture fisheries with respect to food security and nutrition and the Sustainable Development Goals. It quantifies global inland fisheries resources in terms of food production, nutrition, employment, economic contribution with respect to those countries/regions or subnational areas where they are important. A characterization approach to distinguish large-scale and small-scale fishing operations and their relative contributions is provided. The review provides estimated economic values of inland fisheries, as well as a valuation of potential replacement cost of these (in terms of dollars, other resources such as land and water, feeds). There is also an analysis of the extent and economic value of recreational inland fisheries. The contribution to employment and the gender differences related to this are quantified. The linkages between inland fisheries and biodiversity are also explored. C942 Rev. 3 discusses ways to measure and assess inland fisheries, in particular, how to establish more accurately inland fishery catches in the many situations where there are challenges to collection of catch statistics.

The concept of a river basin as a management or planning unit has gone through several stages and is in a state of flux.