Coastal Marine resources management as an issue of integrated coastal zone management in the Western Indian Ocean Africa region
The paper reviews the use and abuse of coastal marine resources especially due to overexploitation, habitat degradation and unplanned changes in resource use in nearshore areas which are easily accessible. The countries in the Western Indian Ocean Africa region hardly extract more than 7% of the total annual catches of the Western Indian Ocean region. The countries of the region have low technology capabilities to allow them to effectively exploit offshore fisheries and are therefore not expected to significantly increase their catches through industrial offshore fishing in the near future hence the nearshore coastal marine resources will still play a more significant role in the livelihood of the coastal communities trough basically artisanal fishing activities. The coastal area being a zone of multiple activities i. e. farming, tourism and recreation activities, water transport, mining etc. Besides fishing, makes it a zone of multiple user conflict. The latter mitigate against sustainable use of the coastal area resources. There is therefore a need of integrated coastal zone management in order to minimize conflicts and strengthen decision making by managers. Since the process interlinks research, planning, implementation, educational, legal and institutional arrangements, its multi-sectoral approach helps to bring about harmony in the sustainable management of resources. The research has to have a multidisciplinary approach with a strong component of socioeconomic study in order to understand the indigenous cultures were used in managing resources besides the generation of modern management models that are based on scientifically obtained data. The production of fishery resources is an outcome of various aquatic processes hence the need of interdisciplinary research strategies. The latter allow us to understand to various critical habitat contribution ie mangroves, seagrass and corals.
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| Format: | Journal Contribution biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1998
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| Subjects: | Marine resources, Resource management, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/7862 |
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