Is the ecosystem approach to fisheries management an effective tool for small-scale fisheries? The case of the purse seine fisheries in Lebanon

Abstract

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the ‘Scientific and Institutional Cooperation to Support Responsible Fisheries in the Eastern Mediterranean’ (EastMed) project in 2009 to support regional cooperation and to further develop the multidisciplinary expertise necessary to formulate appropriate management measures. One of the goals pursued by the project has been to mainstream the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) in the participating countries to ensure rational, responsible and participative fisheries management (Nader et al., 2020; www.faoeastmed.org). In this context, and on the request of the Directorate of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the FAO-EastMed project supported a pilot case study in 2016 on the implementation of the EAF in the purse seine fishery in Lebanon. The pilot study was carried out with the support of the DFW-MoA and was executed in collaboration with the Marine and Coastal Resources Programme of the Institute of Environment, University of Balamand (MCR-IoE-UoB). The aim of the pilot study was to guide the DFW-MoA in the development of coordinated and participative fisheries management plans following the EAF principles and tools (FAO, 2012). This paper describes the process of development of the management plan for small-scale purse seine fisheries, and discusses the main lessons learned from the implementation of the EAF in Lebanon.