Abstract

The development of coastal fisheries co-management depends on numerous factors, including the effective participation of fishers and their organizations’ representatives in decision-making. In Trindade, Paraty, Brazil, local fisheries are carried out along with tourism-related activities, in some cases within protected areas. In this paper, we discuss factors contributing to the effective participation of fishers in management processes that affect fisheries in Trindade. Data on fishers’ participation is based on interviews and observation of meetings/workshops. From 2009 to 2011, we observed 16 meetings related to fisheries management. Trindade fishers’ participation in decision-making processes that influence artisanal fisheries is still a challenge concerning the legitimacy of those processes, which are mainly characterized as top-down processes. Fishers often participate only by consultation and by providing information. In order to develop more collaborative management processes, a greater level of involvement and commitment of fishers is required. Guaranteeing well planned meetings and workshops with skill facilitators may contribute towards this end. An additional way to increase fishers’ participation may be through creating arenas that welcome different values, worldviews and types of knowledge reflecting their own cultural, social and political contexts. This may be achieved through adoption of guiding principles of participatory processes that foster the development of a common vision for collaborative management and, hopefully, for learning processes as well.

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