How Small Scale Fisheries May Attain Sustainability: Focus on Ornamental Marine Fisheries, Women Leadership and Traditional Customary Laws

Reaching sustainability in small scale fisheries require management decision-making not only based on ecologic, social and economic factors, but also on traditional and cultural values. We compared two relatively successful models of resource management and exploitation from Fiji and Mexico, focusing on ornamental marine fisheries, with contrasting approaches. In Fiji, families or a whole community control fishing rights under traditional marine tenure, as opposed to the Mexican system. In both countries, fishers engaged in ornamental fisheries generally earn more than traditional food fishers. In the coastal community of Ligüi (Baja California, Mexico), the level of human development and the ecologic sustainability of the ornamental fishery, operated by a women’s fishing cooperative were found to be intermediate. Strategies adopted make their business more sustainable and they now provide leadership for good small scale fishery practices. The cooperative appears to lead to a change in community mentality regarding the place occupied by women in fisheries and marine environmental and resource conservation issues. Both models show the importance of governance to reach sustainable objectives. Procedures used in both countries are good examples that could be applicable or used to formulate new environmental policies for efficient co-management and sustainable small-scale fishery exploitation.