Community participation and fisheries management: Rhetoric versus three \u27real-world\u27 contexts

A significant portion of the world\u27s commercial fish stocks has been overexploited or is already showing a declining trend. This has generated increased management conflicts and the design of a variety of tools and management approaches directed to prevent and/or solve these conflicts. Among these, participatory management tools and approaches have prospered and are sometimes framed as panaceas to the fisheries crisis. This might be caused by selective research and publication efforts that focused on \u27positive\u27 (i.e., success) stories of participatory fisheries management. This study focuses on evaluating the existence of conceptual and practical differences between the theoretical framework underlying community participation in fisheries management and the perception of community participation by stakeholders in three fishing communities regarding its application in the field