Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as a governability problem: a case study of Lake Victoria, Tanzania

Luomba, Joseph Onyango (2016) Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as a governability problem: a case study of Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis employs interactive governance theory and governability assessment framework to examine why illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is persistent in Lake Victoria, despite efforts to combat it. IUU fishing threatens sustainable management of fish stocks and livelihoods of fisheries dependent communities. At the same time, inadequacies of the technical and regulatory measures implemented to control it have resulted in calls for alternative approaches. This thesis takes a whole system approach to examine underlying governance issues that pose challenges to tackling IUU problems. The study involved two parts. First, it evaluated the extent to which the properties of the system-to-be-governed, the governing system and the governing interactions contribute to fisheries governance challenges. Second, a survey using paired comparison questionnaires was undertaken to determine fisheries stakeholders’ judgements about the level of damages associated with different fishing-related activities. The investigation reveals that diversity, complexity, dynamics and scale issues in the system-to-be-governed, the governing system and the governing interaction challenges efforts to tackle IUU fishing. In addition, the study shows that there are some inconsistencies in the way fishers and managers judge the impact of some fishing-related activities including those that are officially considered IUU fishing. For example, managers consider IUU fishing activities such as ‘fishing without license’ and ‘landing fish in non-gazetted site’ to be least damaging while fishers consider them to have higher impact. These mismatches between the system-to-be-governed and the governing system need to be addressed, before IUU fishing can be tackled. The thesis offers alternative explanations about why IUU problem persists in Lake Victoria, broadening thus the possibility on how to combat it. The methodological approach and findings of the thesis can be applied in other fisheries to help understand and address similar governance challenges.

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