Mobilizing participatory science for inclusive governance of small-scale fisheries in developing countries

Small-scale fisheries are critical to food security, livelihoods, and employment for millions of people globally. However, their management faces significant challenges due to complex socio-ecological dynamics, limited long-term data availability, and ineffective governance, particularly in developing countries. This study presents findings from an ongoing action research initiative aimed at informing decision-making in small-scale fisheries in Madagascar. The approach has combined participatory monitoring of the fisheries with stakeholder engagement processes since 2017. A collaborative online fisheries information system was developed to aggregate data and visualize key bioeconomic fishery indicators that revealed stock decline. Regional and national stakeholder platforms were established and addressed critical management issues, particularly the harvesting and marketing of juvenile crabs. They recommended improving gear selectivity to protect juvenile crabs, among other actions. A participatory fishing experiment was then designed and demonstrated that increasing gear mesh size would effectively decrease undersized catch. A bioeconomic model was further developed using a participatory framework and showed that this rule would positively impact both resource biomass and fishers’ income compared to the status quo. This harvest strategy was validated through a national workshop in 2022 with government support. Consequently two ongoing collaborative projects were launched in 2024 to evaluate the social and economic acceptability of this transformation in real-world conditions. Overall this case study demonstrates that the research initiative has structured interactions between scientists, stakeholders, and government at multiple scales, which has built trust and social learning created incentives for collective action. How such science-society-policy interactions may be institutionalized is under discussion. The findings provide a promising proof of concept for generalizing the approach to other resource use contexts in the South and the North to effectively address the complex challenges of small-scale fisheries and marine coastal biodiversity sustainability.