Technological innovations for fisheries development: Issues and analysis

The need to increase fish production to provide a good source of protein in many developing countries has led to various development programmes in their fisheries sub-sectors. An in-depth look at these programmes will find a common trend in them: an attempt to modernize the fishery through the introduction and provision of modern fishing materials and infrastructure to the predominantly rural and traditional communities. However, some of the modernization efforts have brought, in many instances, other attendant socio-economic problems that seem to negate their original objectives.

This paper identifies and examines various aspects of such innovations in the fisheries sub-sector. Thereafter a critical assessment of the socio-economic and technical issues relevant to such innovation adoption/modernization approach to fisheries development in developing countries is offered. The overriding perspective is the fact that the fisheries of most of these countries are artisanal in nature, and hence any innovation must be adapted for this purpose.