Abstract

Fisheries management in the Eastern Caribbean has traditionally been characterized by Government led top-down governance regimes. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Grenada lack the resources to effectively and consistently conduct surveillance and enforcement exercise at all protected or conservation areas. It has therefore become imperative to develop governance systems that are compliance based and rely on the resources users and stakeholder to sustainably manage these resources. Within the past few decades, there has been a global shift from the conventional top-down government driven governance system to a more holistic bottom-up, stakeholder driven co-management arrangements. In order for stakeholder led co-management to be successful, three critical criteria must be met. Firstly, all legitimate stakeholders must be given an opportunity to participate; secondly, there must be a clear and shared understanding of the objectives; and thirdly, there must be a genuine devolution of power to the stakeholder organization established to manage the resources. This paper uses Sandy Island Oyster Bed Marine Protected Area (SIOBMPA) as case study to highlight Grenada’s efforts to develop a network of co-managed MPAs aimed at fulfilling the country’s Caribbean Challenge commitment of protecting 25% of its coastal and marine resources by 2020.

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