Lessons in co-management from beach seine and lobster fisheries in Grenada

The beach seine fishery for small coastal pelagic fish at Gouyave and the spiny lobster fishery at Sauteurs were two Grenada coastal co-management initiatives under the Caribbean Coastal Co-management Guidelines Project. This project, implemented by the Caribbean Conservation Association (CCA) from 2001 to 2003, aimed at identifying and promoting the conditions for successful coastal co-management in the Caribbean. The lobster study provided lessons on interactions among government stakeholders, and between them and fishers, where a co-management solution to conflict over irresponsible and illegal fishing was sought. Lessons from the beach seine study focused on why fishers wished to propose formal legal procedures based on traditional fishing rules as an alternative to customary, community-based management measures for resolving conflicts. This paper illustrates the challenges of introducing coastal resource co-management in the Caribbean, using as example the lobster fishery in Grenada. Guidelines for enhancing the chances of successful co-management are presented and emphasis is placed on promoting comprehensive capacity building.