Social and political ecology of fisheries and aquaculture in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia’s coastal ecosystems are under enormous pressure from a broad range of processes, including over-fishing and a growth in aquaculture, offshore oil and gas, the development of coastal tourist resorts and the extensive mining of coastal sand. These processes both impact and contribute towards the region’s economic transition. As populations and investment in coastal regions have grown over the past 25 years, so too have claims over land and biotic resources as new, often global, industries have sought access to and control over fish production through both fisheries and aquaculture. For many Southeast Asian coastal dwellers relying on fish and other living aquatic resources for their livelihoods, these new relations of production and patterns of ownership have proven exclusive and inequitable. At the same time, a series of local and global environmental governance initiatives, ranging from community-based management to state and market conservation arrangements, have been posed as innovative solutions designed to address environmental concerns over fish production. Whether these initiatives can also lead to more equitable fisheries and aquaculture production remains an ongoing area of research.