Preliminary Study Report on the Fishing Right Pilot Project in Bang Saphan Bay, Thailand

The situation of coastal resource decline and conflict among fishermen fishing for resources indicate the need for management in the coastal fishery sector. There has been a big effort by the Government to control fishing effort through enforcing fishing restrictions in the coastal areas, at the same time increasing marine resources by releasing juveniles of the marine resources. It can be said that this has not been successful, because most of fishermen using the resources apparently still do not understand the concept of sustainable utilization of marine animals. They still want take as much as possible and do not care about the future. Open access to the resources creates conflict between fishermen and presents an opportunity for highly capitalized effort to capture more resources than others. There are not many projects that consider involving resource users in the management system. Management for coastal fisheries not should only concern natural resources, but should also take account of the people using the resources