This paper exemplifies a primary step towards eliciting primary and secondary stakeholders’ views on management issues pertaining to kingfish fishery in Oman, and potential options for effective management of the fishery using questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews. There was consensus from stakeholder groups which included fishers, fishery managers, and fishery scientists that the current stock condition is not biologically sustainable. It is found that fishing effort control and technical measures are preferred to catch control by both groups. The role of mass media and the traditional institution in communicating fisheries issues are found to be relatively minor. Although the overall rating on the comprehensiveness of the proposed plan is promising, there are significant differences between the two groups with regard to legislative arrangements (
χ2 = 24.793,
p-value = 0.000), management goals (
χ2 = 16.206,
p-value = 0.001), operational objectives (
χ2 = 19.884,
p-value = 0.000), performance indicators (
χ2 = 15.524,
p-value = 0.001), and measures (
χ2 = 13.483,
p-value = 0.004). Policy implications of the key findings are discussed in both national and regional contexts. Management authorities can use these findings to design an appropriate plan of actions for achieving sustainability in this fishery.
In the Sultanate of Oman, the fisheries sector is at the core of the economic development agenda, and accordingly the sector is expected to play a vital role in the enhancement of the country’s socio-economic welfare, including food security [1] - [3] . In this context, progress towards the achievement of long-term sustainability in the fisheries sector is of paramount importance. Although the development plan for the sector projected average annual growth of 5.6% by 2020 [2] , high-value fish species such as kingfish (Scomberomorus commerson) have been experiencing a prolonged period of high fishing pressure. For instance, landings of kingfish have indicated a marked reduction (about 8.2% per annum) during the period 1988-2011. The decline in landings has caused legitimate concern among policy makers, scientists, and fishers about its possible socio-economic consequences. Further reasons for considering kingfish fishery are as follows: firstly, kingfish is one of the most popular species in the traditional diet of the Omani people and the fishery provides significant employment and income opportunities to the traditional fishing community in Oman; secondly, a considerable amount of scientific research has already been conducted on this species in Oman and the information generated through these research activities is of particular use in developing operational objectives with appropriate indicators and management options; last but not least, the shared and migratory nature of kingfish stocks.
The overexploited status of the fishery has been documented in several local studies [4] - [10] . The poor state of kingfish species is also echoed in regional studies [11] - [13] . For instance, based on the analysis of length frequency data collected during January 2004-December 2006 for six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries under the GCC Kingfish Monitoring Program it was mentioned, among others, that i) the kingfish resource was overexploited; ii) a large proportion of (range: 42.19% to 81.31%) immature fish were observed in the landed catch; iii) the average length of fish caught was more than the length of first maturity, and iv) the average annual yield (15,455 ton) was higher than the estimated maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of 14,711 tons for GCC countries [13] .
Considering the overexploited status of the fishery and recognizing the international obligations stipulated in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) [14] and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement [15] in relation to the conservation and management of “shared fish stocks”, there is a persuasive call for introducing appropriate management arrangements by involving key stakeholders for maintaining long-term sustainability of the fishery [11] [13] [16] . In response to this call and with the purpose of promoting equity, legitimacy, and efficiency―the basic tenets of sustainable development [17] ―the main objective of the paper is to elicit primary and secondary stakeholders’ views on the key issues pertaining to the effective management of the fishery in Oman. This type of participatory approach not only helps broaden decision makers’ understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes, but also provides the basis for improved management through knowledge integration [18] [19] , fosters cooperation through the development of mutual respect [20] , and promotes regulatory effectiveness by reducing the extent of non-compliance [21] [22] .
As the scope of the present study is limited to Oman, a legitimate question can be raised that in the case of a shared stock, views of a limited number of stakeholders in one country would not be sufficient to capture the preferences of the regional stakeholders. Although views elicited are limited in scope, the information presented in this study has contributed to the improvement of cooperative arrangements among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in relation to the conservation and management of kingfish resource. Evidence in support to this claim is presented in section 5 of the present study.
The objective of this paper is achieved in two steps. First, following the literature a simple objective-driven management plan for the fishery was drafted that encompassed the key dimensions of sustainable development [23] . Second, the plan was communicated with the primary (i.e. fishers) and secondary (i.e. fishery managers and scientists) stakeholders with the purpose of eliciting their views and preferences, and obtaining their evaluations. According to behavior literature (for instance, [24] ), the formation of individual attitudes is likely to be influenced by factors such as personal experience (in the present case, gained through involvement in the fishery), information acquired from peers and exposure to mass media, and so on. On the other hand, the formation of individual perceptions is likely to be influenced by personal expectation from the fishery, individual needs and motives, and past experience, etc. Collectively, these factors are likely to exert influence on the personal evaluation of the fishery. Therefore, where relevant, an appropriate statistical test was conducted to determine whether response patterns were similar across groups.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 provides an overview of the kingfish fishery in Oman along with its key characteristics. Section 3 describes, in detail, the methodology followed in preparing the plan. It also presents the stakeholder supported management plan for the fishery and describes its essential components. Section 4 presents findings from the survey and explains their significance and implications. Section 5 discusses the results along with policy implications, and section 6 draws the concluding remarks.
2. Brief Description of the Fishery
The Sultanate of Oman is located at the south-eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula between latitudes 16˚40' and 26˚20'North and longitudes 051˚50' and 059˚40'East and has a coastline of about 3165 km. It is bordered by three different water bodies: the Arabian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Sea (see Figure 1).
The fisheries sector in Oman has two distinct segments namely the traditional (or artisanal) and the industrial. About 96% of the total landings (2011 estimate) are from the traditional sector, and the traditional sector provides direct employment to 40,161 fishers [25] . The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), is the responsible authority for the management of the fisheries resources and The Marine Fishing and Living Aquatic Resources Protection Law (MFLARPL)―which was issued in 1981 according to the Royal Decree number 53/8- provides legal mandate for the conservation and exclusive management of the fishery resources within the country’s territorial water (further details on the fisheries sector can be found in, for instance, [3] [26] .
This section provides an overview of the ecological, biological, operational, socio-economic and institutional characteristics with particular reference to the kingfish fishery in Oman. It should be emphasized that the data and information presented in Table 1, and Figure 2 and Figure 3 have guided the goals and operational objectives of the plan and the set of potential “indicators”, “management controls” and “management options” in the proposed management plan for the fishery.
Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) locally known as “kannad” or kingfish, is a
Map of the Sultanate of Oman including coastal Governorates
Summary of the ecological and biological characteristics of Kingfish (S. commerson)
Parameter
Local estimate/observation
Source
Species distribution
Along the coast of the Sultanate of Oman (Arabian Gulf, Oman Sea and Arabian Sea) from the Musandam Peninsula in the north to Dhofar in the south.
[16]
Depth range
Occurs in the water column less than 100 m in depth.
[29]
Migration pattern of species
During the summer months (May until August) kingfish appear to move northwards into the Arabian Gulf from the eastern Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. This movement is believed to be for spawning, which lasts for a period of one to four months. The return journey of the spent (maturity stage category) fish occurs by the end of summer.
[8]
Feeding behavior
Feeds mainly in open water on small pelagic fish (e.g. sardines and anchovies), as well as on invertebrates (e.g. squid) and feeding apparently takes place during the day and night.
[16]
Catch size
Estimated between 24 and 197 cm fork length (FL), with the majority falling within the 48 - 147 cm fork length (FL).
[5]
Maximum age recorded
21 years for female & no male older than 10 years
[8]
By-catch
Immature kingfish are caught together with other species
[4]
Size at first capture
40 - 60 cm fork length (FL) 45 cm fork length (FL)
[4] [7]
Age at first capture
4 - 6 months
[4]
Size at first maturity
Combined:75 - 80 cm (FL) Male: 84.7 cm fork length (FL) Female: 80.4 cm fork length (FL)
M (Natural Mortality): 0.35 year−1, 0.64 year−1 and 0.77 year−1 (based on life-history parameters using three different estimation methods) F (Fishing Mortality): 0.5 - 0.6 year−1
[5] [10]
Growth rate
Rapid up until 2 years of age
[4] [7]
Spawning season
Spawning period mostly from April to June.
[8]
Spawning biomass per-recruit (SBR)
SBR (at the current fishing rates) as compared to a virgin stock.
Male at 27%
[9]
Female at 16%
Note: Authors’ own compilation.
member of the family Scombridae (mackerels, tunas, bonitos) and sub-family: Scombrinae. The Omani kingfish is distributed along the coast of Oman from the Musandam Peninsula in the north to Dhofar in the south (Figure 1). Although kingfish is generally caught throughout the year, an initial scrutiny of the monthly total landings indicates that kingfish catches are substantially higher in September through to early December with a smaller peak in landings in late February to April. However, a considerable decline has been observed during the summer months (May to August). Table 1 presents some important ecological and biological information about the species along with their source references.
Kingfish is harvested predominantly by traditional fishers using fiberglass boats (5 - 10 m) and large wooden dhows (around 20 m) with the total landings from the fiberglass boats being larger than that from the dhows, merely because of their large numbers (about 93%) in the fishery [27] . Five different types of fishing gear (hand
Landings (ton) and gross value (RO '000) of kingfish for the period 1988-2011. 1 Rial Omani (RO) ≈ USD 2.59
Export quantity (ton) and value (RO '000) of kingfish for the period 1988-2011
lines with either live or dead bait, drift gillnet, set gillnet, beach seines, and longlines etc.) are common to the traditional sector [16] [28] . However, drift and set gillnets collectively account for approximately 75% of the gear types engaged in harvesting kingfish [27] .
Figure 2 presents landings and gross value of landings of kingfish for the period 1988-2011. It is found that the landings of kingfish had experienced a considerable decline (about 88%) during the period 1988 to 2011.
The coefficient of variation (CV) estimates for landings (100.34%), total value (42.95%) and unit value (34.2%) of kingfish suggest that the variation in landings relative to unit price was the dominant factor contributing to the variation in the total value during 1988-2011. Even though the unit value for kingfish has experienced a positive trend, the extent of downward trend in landings over the period 1988-2011 resulted in legitimate concern as noted earlier for the management authority in relation to the economic viability and the long-run sustainability of the fishery. During the same period, the share of kingfish in the total large pelagic landings has dropped from about 37% in 1988 to 8.4% in 2011 (with the CV estimate of 53.63%). These findings set limits on the formulation of economic goals and objectives for the fishery (see Table 4) and the associated management options.
In the domestic market, kingfish is generally marketed whole and un-gutted. It is generally sold locally at landing sites or transported to local market places using refrigerated and non-refrigerated trucks. Kingfish is also exported to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Statistical evidence suggests that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are the top export destinations (about 99.7% of the total export quantity in 2011) [25] . Hence, kingfish plays an important economic role in foreign exchange earnings. Figure 3 presents the export quantity and total value of kingfish for the period 1988-2011.
The coefficient of variation (CV) estimates for the export quantity (55.14%), export value (66.92%) and unit value (32.93%) for kingfish suggested that the variation in export quantity relative to unit value was the dominant factor contributing to the variation in total export value during 1988-2011.
3. Methodology
Given the time and costs constraints, it was decided to prepare a draft plan and communicate it to the intended stakeholder groups for their valuable inputs. It is important to note that the goals of the plan were guided by one of the key strategic goals (i.e. sustainable utilization of fisheries resources) of the 7th Five-year Plan (2006-2010) for the sector. The operational objectives and targets are set up based on the existing scientific studies (see Table 1), five-year plans, and historical characteristics of the fisheries sector recorded in various project reports. The draft plan was also accompanied with a questionnaire for each stakeholder group to elicit their personal views on the various components of the proposed plan.
A face-to-face pilot survey was conducted involving six randomly selected fishers from Muscat and Al- Batinah Governorates and nine representatives from non-fishers groups (six fisheries scientists and three fishery managers) to ensure full clarity of the questions and their relevance. The initial draft plan and the questionnaire were revised based on the minor remarks and comments (i.e. clarification of a few words) received from the respondents involved in the pilot study.
The final questionnaire had two distinct parts. The first part―which is group specific-contained questions in relation to the respondents’ nature of involvement in the fishery, years of experience, level of education, awareness of management issues, views on the current biological status, views on the effectiveness of various communication modes, and preferences of management controls. As mentioned earlier, this type of information is important from a management perspective as it gives hint on the stakeholders’ attitudes toward and perceptions about the fishery.
In contrast, the second part was common to both groups and attempted to obtain feedback on the following key elements: the adequacy of current legislative arrangements, management goals, operational objectives, performance indicators, proposed management measures and comprehensiveness of the proposed management plan. For instance, the respondents were asked whether a) the current legislative arrangements are sufficient enough for ensuring protection of the kingfish stock; b) the management goals identified in the draft plan are sufficient enough for ensuring long-term sustainability of the kingfish; c) the operational objectives stated under each goal in the draft plan are sufficient enough to achieve the overall management goals; d) the performance indicators identified under each operational objective are sufficient enough to evaluate the effectiveness of the management plan; and e) the management measures stipulated in the draft plan are sufficient enough for ensuring long-term sustainability of the kingfish fishery. A five-point scale was used with bi-polar adjectives, for instance, “1” represents highly sufficient and “5” represents not sufficient at all, to measure the views of the respondents.
Due to the professional diversity between the two groups and the level of educational attainment of the traditional fishers in general [22] , the following methods were adopted in conducting the survey. For the secondary stakeholder group, a non-probability sampling technique (i.e. judgment sampling) was used and respondents were selected based on the trait of interest (research and managerial experience) they possessed. Next, the final questionnaire together with a draft plan, a brief overview of the various aspects of the fishery and the purpose of the survey were discussed in detail in a face-to-face interview and handed out to 43 participants during the period July-August, 2009. A total of 31 survey responses (a response rate of 72%) were received. On the other hand, for the primary stakeholder group, a focus-group based interview approach was adopted to elicit the views of the respondents from each coastal Governorate. This type of interview approach for the primary stakeholder group was adopted to 1) initiate social interaction, 2) make fishers understand what was required of them, 3) explain the meaning of questions if such a need arose, and 4) motivate fishers to answer the questions in a simple and straightforward manner, among others. Six focus groups from six coastal Governorates (Musandam, Al-Batinah, Muscat, Al-Sharqyiah, Al-Wusta and Dhofar) were formed. On average there were eight members per focus-group, meaning a total of 48 fishers were interviewed. The participation in the interview was open to all fishers and an open invitation was made through the regional fisheries office. The attendance was dependent upon fishers’ availability and willingness to participate in the survey. A convenient date and time was agreed to with the volunteer fishers and the interview occurred in places that were chosen by the fishers.
At the beginning of the focus-group interview, all members were welcomed together with a brief statement of the purpose of the survey, clear justification for the request for information along with the expected output from the survey, and a non-disclosure statement. To avoid any inappropriate use of survey information the respondents from both groups were kept anonymous following the code of conduct by the MAF. A single interviewer was involved in the focused interview to maintain consistency and standardize interviewer bias. A non-param- etric statistical test (χ2 test) was conducted to check whether there was a significant difference between the responses from the primary and secondary stakeholder groups with regard to the key elements of the proposed plan.
4. Results4.1. Respondent’s Profile
It was found that the average duration of involvement of the primary and secondary stakeholder groups in the fishery sector was 23.9 years and 15.6 years, respectively. It was noted that 44 out of 48 interviewed fishers were boat owners and the remaining were vessel crews. Twenty nine of the respondents from the fisher group were full-time fishers. With regard to the secondary stakeholder group, 22 respondents were fishery managers and 9 were fishery scientists. This is encouraging as it is expected that the efficacy of the proposed management plan would be scrutinized by the respondents based on their diverse professional experiences. It was also noted that 29 of the interviewed fishers were involved in the pelagic and demersal fisheries which suggests that the majority of artisanal fishers in Oman are involved in multi-species fishing activities. This finding is in line with other local study [22] . In a local study involving Al-Batinah Governorate, it was mentioned that the region’s fishers were educationally challenged with a majority of them being illiterate [28] . In a sample of 100 fishers from two study areas (Barka and Al-Suwaiq), it was found that about 24 fishers had no education, 9 fishers could read and write, 43 fishers had primary level education, and the rest had secondary education [22] . This is consistent with the authors’ observation during focus group interviews.
With regard to communication between stakeholder groups and the authority, it can be seen from Table 2 that “ministry notices” posted in various places (such as fishing ports and fish markets etc.), and “management meetings” were the best modes of communicating fisheries issues to both primary and secondary stakeholder groups respectively. Furthermore, the results also revealed that the role of mass media (such as, newspapers, television and radio) in creating awareness among fishers was perceived to be relatively minor. Although unexpected, the result indicates the diminishing role of the traditional institution called “Senat Al-Bahar (i.e. code of the sea)” in communicating fisheries issues with fishers. The same trend was observed by other studies [22] [28] .
When asked about the “biological sustainability” of the kingfish stock there appeared to be a consensus among both stakeholder groups that the fishery is not biologically sustainable. Table 2 presents the results. This response is not unexpected as the situation is already revealed through scientific studies, and the fishers have already experienced a sharp decline in their catch shares over time. This particular situation demands urgent attention from the management authority to avoid the likelihood of a stock collapse in the future. It was also noted that about 21.4% and 7.1% of the non-fisher respondents perceived that kingfish stock was “probably” and “strictly” underfished, respectively. This perception is, perhaps, influenced by the fact that many local fishery managers have very limited exposure to scientific skills such as stock assessment comparable to their managerial competence that could limit their ability to assess the stock condition. Another possibility is that respondents’ firmly held beliefs and/or professional interests cause them to disregard the prevailing scientific facts about the fishery.
The respondents were also asked to indicate their preferences to management measures under three broad categories namely, input, output and technical measures by using a scale ranging from 1 to 5, where “1” represents highly preferable and “5” represents not preferable at all. Table 3 presents the results. It can be seen that fishing effort controls (e.g. gear and vessel restrictions) and technical measures (e.g. area closures, seasonal closures etc.) were preferred to catch controls (e.g. total allowable catch). One reason may be that fishers are
Responses in relation to the mode of communication and the current status of the kingfish stock
Item
Fisher (N = 48)
Non-fisher (N = 31)
Communication media
No.
%
No.
%
Attend management meeting
20
41.7
26
84.0
Ministry notice
27
56.3
16
52.0
Newspaper
4
8.3
7
23.0
Television/radio
2
4.2
4
13.0
Personal contact with fishery managers
5
10.4
14
45.0
Community leader (called “Wali”)
19
36.9
0
0.0
Senat Al-Bahar committee (traditional institution)
14
29.2
0
0.0
Scientific research
0
0.0
19
61.0
Stock status
Severely overfished
20
42.6
12
42.9
Just overfished
22
46.8
8
28.6
Biologically sustainable
4
8.5
0
0.0
Probably underfished
1
2.1
6
21.4
Strictly underfished
0
0.0
2
7.1
Source: Field survey.
Responses from both stakeholder groups regarding the preferred management measures
Management measures
Mean scores*
Fisher (N = 48)
Non-fisher (N = 31)
Overall
Control of fishing effort (e.g. fishing gear, fishing method and vessel restrictions)
1.4
2.0
1.7
Catch control (e.g. total allowable catch)
3.5
3.0
3.3
Technical measures (e.g. area and seasonal closures)
2.7
2.0
2.4
Source: Field survey. *A five-point scale was used, where “1” represents highly preferable and “5” represents not preferable.
cautious about embracing total allowable catch (TAC) measure without having a clear idea of how will it work in the context of a shared stock. A second reason, perhaps, is the familiarity with the input control and technical measures because of their historical use. With particular reference to Oman, researchers have also recommended mesh size regulation [4] [9] and closed season [9] to control growth overfishing. Furthermore, based on a review of fisheries management in 32 different societies, it was found that all of the rules and practices were developed to control “how, when and where” fish were caught rather than “how many” fish were caught [30] . These measures were further discussed with the stakeholder groups and incorporated accordingly in the management plan (see Table 4). It is noted that there is no scientifically-based target reference point readily available for the fishery.
4.2. The Elements of the Proposed Plan and Their Assessment by Stakeholders
The key elements (i.e. goals, objectives, indicators and targets) of the stakeholder-approved plan are presented in Table 4.
As mentioned earlier in section 3, the key elements namely, the adequacy of current legislative arrangements, management goals, operational objectives, performance indicators, proposed management measures and comprehensiveness of the proposed plan were evaluated by stakeholders using a five-point scale where “1” represents highly sufficient/ very good and “5” represents not sufficient at all/not good at all. The results are presented in Table 5. Furthermore, recalling the expected differences in individual opinions stated in section 1 and following one of the objectives of the study, a null hypotheses (H0: there was no significant difference between the responses from the primary and secondary stakeholder groups) was tested using a non-parametric test (χ2-test) based on the individual score and the corresponding results are presented in Table 5.
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