Transboundary Small-Scale Fishery Governance in the Bay of Bengal – The Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) Fishery as a Case Study

Abstract

The management and governance of shared stocks have long been identified as a challenge to achieving long-term socio-economic and environmental sustainability in fisheries. Though transboundary resource governance (for example, concerning water and fish) has been studied in many parts of the world, this topic remains poorly understood within the Bay of Bengal region. Hilsa (Tenualosa Ilisha) is a transboundary fish that migrates across the Bay of Bengal? through the rivers of Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar. It is harvested in the Bay of Bengal by millions of fisherfolk from all three countries. A lack of active cooperation and collaboration between these states, however, often results in fishers from one country being criminalized by the governments of other countries for trespassing into their exclusive economic zones and not complying with their regulations. This situation raises issues of social equity and justice. Having no or inadequate provision for the management of transboundary fish stocks could lead to degradation of the species and the ecosystem, with severe impacts on the quality of life and economic growth prospects for the region. Therefore, focused research is needed to develop a shared transboundary management policy for hilsa fisheries to help build a more effective governance regime with balanced power sharing between the three countries that would enhance the well-being of fishers and the ecosystems they operate in. Towards this end, primary and secondary data will be collected through documentary analysis and literature review, and by conducting semi-structured interviews with fishers and other relevant stakeholders that operate in the region. This is data, in turn, is intended to facilitate the highly challenging process of negotiating and implementing transboundary fisheries management practices in the region. The most promising framework for these practices would appear to lie in adapting co-management arrangements that establish functional relationships between government authorities and local stakeholders – itself an important aspect of conflict resolution in the region.