Evaluating community fishery management using Fishers' perceptions in the Tonle Sap lake of Cambodia

There is an emerging consensus among academics and resource managers that successful resource management systems must be developed locally and account for a diverse range of political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. In this research we evaluate and categorize the fishers' perspectives on the environmental, economic, social, and legal impacts of transitioning from a private property system to community fisheries in Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. Specifically, this paper uses interview results (N= 523) to assess the perceptions of local communities following a reform in 2012, whereby a commercial leasehold system was replaced with a community-based fishery management system. Results demonstrate that this conversion of fishery management systems is perceived as helping to improve economic, environmental, and legal conditions at the macro-level, but improvements in economic productivity at the individual level are inconclusive. This paper reveals the inherent complexity, benefits, and trade-offs involved in community-based management by exploring fishers' perceptions. One implication of this study is that the data reinforce the importance of participatory engagement in the development of resource management systems.