This document examines the tenure systems, rights and governance issues in the vast, diverse and complex inland fisheries of India. The objective is to highlight how inland fisheries have been changing and the associated challenges for governance and tenure.

The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) were adopted by member countries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and were officially approved as an international instrument in June 2014. Tis document is only a summation of the contents of the Guidelines.

This study offers systematization of three experiences in Central America where traditional knowledge has been used to improve marine spatial planning and frame a new policy oriented towards human rights approaches to fisheries and has given better tools for the governance of community-managed protected areas.

The focus of this study was on Dagaa (sardines) (Rastrineobola argentea) Fishery which involves mostly women in its overall value chain. The study sites were areas that are specialized in dagaa fishery and these include Lushonga Island located in the Muleba district of Kagera region, Mwanza Kirumba international fish market and in some of the landing beaches in Nyamagana and Ilemela districts in Mwanza.

This dossier puts together a collection of articles from the pages of SAMUDRA Report, the triannual journal of ICSF. The articles show that conservation and livelihoods are closely intertwined, and that top-down, non participatory models of conservation can be counterproductive. Despite being poor and powerless, fishing and coastal communities can be powerful allies in conservation efforts, given their longstanding dependence on natural resources and their traditional ecological knowledge systems. As the examples in the dossier reveal, it is possible for fishing communities to protect and conserve the environment, while continuing with sustainable fishing operations.