Assessment of fisheries resource-use conflict management strategies among artisanal fishers of the Kenya coast

Abstract

Fisheries resource use conflicts are common among artisanal fishers of tropical developing coastal areas. These can be resolved by various conflict management strategies. An assessment of these fisheries resource-use conflict management strategies currently used by artisanal fishers along the Kenyan coast was conducted by studying how effective they are in resolving conflicts amongst the fishers. The study adopted a survey approach where 197 active fishers were systematically interviewed at selected fish landing sites of Kuruwitu, Mnarani and Uyombo using a semi-structured questionnaire. Both traditional and modern approaches of conflict management as well as legislative fisheries regulations are used to manage fisheries resource-use conflicts. The use of modern conflict resolution strategies (p=0.932), and fisheries regulations (p=0.740) had no significant relationship with effectiveness across study sites. On the other hand, use of traditional approaches had significant relationship with effectiveness (p < 0.05) across study sites. The study concludes that a blanket conflict resolution mechanism is not effective and that a holistic approach in managing conflicts incorporating traditional strategies should be adopted.