Property rights regimes in complex fishery management in Tonle Sap: combining choice experiments and agent-based simulations

Overexploitation, conflicts and inequality in resource use are common consequences of many fishery management systems such as those in the developing countries. A better understanding of the spatial dynamics of fisheries and the causes of past failures in management is needed in order to provide more effective management systems. The small-scale inland fisheries in Tonle Sap are used as a case study in this thesis, as they combine property rights and conservation in the form of distinct management zones (private, common and conservation zones) with access to private fishing grounds determined through allocation of licences through an auction system. This thesis uses a choice experiment approach to investigate how this allocation system affects different groups of fishermen. The results indicate that the auction system is likely to further the advantages of better-off fishermen irrespective of the characteristics of fishing lots. This suggests that it is unlikely that the design of fishing lots in itself would be an effective way of securing access to fishing resources for all types of fishermen. Agent-based modelling is then used to examine the links between conservation and private property rights, through an analysis of the spatial effects of property rights and conservation, using different management system designs and focusing on the interactions between heterogeneous fishermen, fish biomass and fishing regulations. Private property is found to promote better fish biomass conditions on its own, but does not necessary generate the best conservation or socio-economic outcomes for fishing communities when evaluating the entire fishery. Conservation zones perform better when the reserves are located in baseline quality fish habitats and the reserve size is large. The results show how positive effects on fishery sustainability can be achieved. Effective management for subsistence fisheries can be designed using property rights and conservation areas, combined with other fishery regulations and enforcement, in order to ensure biological and socioeconomic sustainability.