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Using Transdisciplinary Research Solutions to Support Governance in Inland Fisheries

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Transdisciplinarity for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance

Part of the book series: MARE Publication Series ((MARE,volume 21))

Abstract

The diverse nature of internal and external threats and fishery attributes in inland fisheries indicates that the development of long-term solutions to governance issues will require interaction among multiple disciplines and actors. Pollution, habitat alteration, invasive species, and hydropower development are widespread problems that are often external to threats imposed by inland fisheries, but greatly impact fishery productivity. Within inland fisheries, challenges of overfishing, equitable access, conflict, and an overall lack of political will to sustain inland fisheries at the regional, national, and international policy levels serve to pressure the sector further. Power dynamics, governance systems, and regulations play a role in determining the perspectives from which solutions to these issues are viewed, and thereby the perspectives from which they are defined as a success. Promoting transdisciplinary research in inland fisheries can support development of successful governance solutions by providing relevant insights to identify and inform these perspectives. Here, we offer examples of redefined governance problems and potential strategies for addressing them using transdisciplinary research approaches. We conclude by offering suggestions for improving transdisciplinary research in inland fisheries.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the TBTI Inland Fisheries Cluster members for their participation in the Inland Fisheries Governance Ebook, which contributed greatly to this chapter. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to our reviewers, whose careful attention to this manuscript was immensely helpful. We hope this chapter is of value to anyone wishing to explore transdisciplinarity in inland fisheries research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Shannon D. Bower & Steven J. Cooke

  2. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    Andrew M. Song

  3. WorldFish, Honiara, Solomon Islands

    Andrew M. Song

  4. Department of Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Paul Onyango

  5. Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Jeppe Kolding

Authors
  1. Shannon D. Bower
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  2. Andrew M. Song
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  3. Paul Onyango
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  4. Steven J. Cooke
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  5. Jeppe Kolding
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shannon D. Bower .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Ratana Chuenpagdee

  2. Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Svein Jentoft

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Bower, S.D., Song, A.M., Onyango, P., Cooke, S.J., Kolding, J. (2019). Using Transdisciplinary Research Solutions to Support Governance in Inland Fisheries. In: Chuenpagdee, R., Jentoft, S. (eds) Transdisciplinarity for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance. MARE Publication Series, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94938-3_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94938-3_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94937-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94938-3

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