Co-creation, Co-evolution and Co-management of Japanese Coastal Fisheries: A Tool-box Approach

Taking changes, uncertainty and diversification of ecosystems and societies as prerequisites, the effective way to implement stable fisheries management involves engaging the stakeholders (e.g., fishers, authorities and researchers) in discussions of issues. Such dialogues allow the participants to select and implement initiatives for measures that suit the location in question. This process also can accommodate revisions to compensate for changes in nature and society as the results and significance of the initiatives are continually appraised via the varied knowledge possessed by the stakeholders. And, to support this kind of deliberation and decision-making, in cooperation with fishers, we have developed and are sharing a fisheries management tool-box. As a result, we are now able to compare various sites using a common framework, which enables us to search out general theories for fisheries management in the future. Moreover, by using the tool-box in recurring discussions among the diverse range of knowledge holders at the site in question, the diverse perspectives of stakeholders (including researchers) change. In turn, that change can be fed back to the tool-box, with the hope that it will contribute to “co-evolution” of knowledge related to fisheries management.