The Training of Trainer on Facilitating Fisheries Information Gathering Through Introduction of Co-management and Community-based Fisheries Management: Effective Implementation of Co-management and CBFM in Lao PDR

Date: 19-22 September 2016

Venue: Vientiane, Lao PDR

Objectives:

1) To provide the knowledge and experience on practical approach to Co-Management and Community-Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) to local fishing community of Lao PDR,

2) To strengthen practical competence in cooperation and implementing the applicable inland fishery management plans by local fishing community,

3) To provide practical tools and methodology of fisheries data collection in inland small-scale fisheries for better development and management of fisheries resources to ensure sustainable livelihood for fishing communities, and

4) To transfer knowledge on Lao Fisheries law and gender to local officers.

Result

The training program composed of three sessions;

Session 1, this session had six presentations from resource person from DLF, JICA and SEAFDEC. These presentations focus on the concept of sustainable fisheries management and Co-management/Community-based Fisheries Management (CBFM), the Fisheries law of Lao PDR and gender in fisheries in order to clearly understand the importance of sustainable fisheries development through co-management for inland fisheries.

 Session 2, this session composes of five presentations focusing the case study on the co-management and community-based fisheries management (CBFM) approach implementing in Thailand at Nam Oon Dam, Sakon Nakhon Province. As well as the case study of Tagal system in Malaysia including the case study in the Philippines that showed how to develop the fisheries management plan in Samar Sea Fisheries Management Plan. Moreover, the case study on CBFM in Lao PDR and fisheries law also were presented. Furthermore, the resources person from Lao PDR also introduced the gender issues on the encouraging women’s participation in fisheries management for sustainable livelihood of Ban Donchai-udom women group, Vientiane Province.

Session 3: Workshop on preparation of fisheries management plan in fisheries community. This session started by introduce on how to preparation of fisheries management plan to the participants. The participants were divided into 4 groups (6 person/group) to conduct the practical activity by discussion and develop simply fisheries management plan for inland fisheries such as reservoirs and rivers. In order to develop fisheries management plan, the threats and issues in the fisheries management unit (FMU) should be identified and prioritized including created vision the long-term aspiration of what you would like the FMU to be. Then set the goal, objectives and indicator as well as the management action.

Each group presented the output of fisheries management plans that include the map of FMU, Vision, Goal, issues, objectives, indicator and management action.

Furthermore, there was a field visit to Conservation area at Ban Nathong Village or tourists well known as Blue Lagoon, attending by 25 participants. Mr. Boonma, Head of Nathong village explained that the conservation area is in the pool length around 100 meters and established in 1998 and promote as the tourist site. The rule and regulation of this conservation area were defined by community agreement. There are 137 households. Three household can operate food shop in this site for 3 months (then rotate among the members). They have to pay for rental shop to the community around 3,000,000 kip/3 mont

hs. This community have to pay tax 115,500,000 kip/year to the government. However, the community gain benefit from this conservation area through the employment from tourism. From the field visit, the participants gained more knowledge and they can apply to develop their fisheries management plan in their responsible area for the future work.

TOT (Training of Trainers) on Facilitating Fisheries Information Gathering through Introduction of Co-management and Community-based Fisheries Management: Effective Implementation and Extension of the Co-management and CBFM in Lao PDR

Date: 27-30 April 2015

Venue: Khammouane Province, Lao PDR

Objectives

1. Create better understanding of fishers and local government authorities on the importance of sustainable fisheries development through co-management for inland fisheries, especially on the leading role in practicing and transferring knowledge on co-management for inland fisheries;

2. To introduce the knowledge and experience on practical approach to Co-Management and Community-based Fisheries Management (CBFM) to local fishing community of Lao PDR.

3. Strengthen practical competence in cooperation and implementing the applicable inland fishery management plans by local fishing community.

4. Provide practical tools and methodology of fisheries data collection in inland small-scale fisheries for better development and management of fisheries resources to ensure sustainable livelihood for fishing communities. 

5. To transfer knowledge on Lao Fisheries law to local officers

Result

The Department of Livestock and Fisheries of Lao PDR requested SEAFDEC for supporting to conduct an on-site training course to promote the concept of community-based fisheries management and co-management to local fishing community in Lao PDR. The participants composed of 30 DLF’s local officers of the Center part of Lao PDR and 4 officers from DLF head quarter as well as six persons from SEAFDEC and one resource person from Department of Fisheries of Thailand.

The presentations had both lecture and workshop. The lecture divided into three sessions. First session was Basic knowledge on co-management and CBFM. In this session had six modules; 1) Community- based fisheries management: importance of fisheries management by community, 2) Important role of resource management for sustainable fisheries, 3) Community-based Fisheries Management in Japan  and its implications for Southeast Asian Countries, 4) How to introduce and facilitate community -based fisheries management (CBFM) to fisheries community,  5) Concept and effective methodology on data collection through CBFM, and 6) Introduction of Fisheries law of Lao PDR.

Second session was experiences/case studies on practical approach to co-management and CBFM. It composed of five modules; 1) Co-Management/Community-based Fisheries Management in Nam Oon Dam, Sakon Nakhon Province, Thailand (case study), 2) Micro-credit for small-scale fisheries in Thailand (case study), 3) Case study on Community-based Fisheries Management in Nam Houm reservoir, Lao PDR, 4) Importance of socio-economic information to improve fisheries livelihood (case study), 5) Encouraging women’s participation in fisheries management  for sustainable livelihood (case study).

Third session was the workshop on effective implementation and extension of Co-management and CBFM in Provincial level. It composed of; 1) Introduction on workshop’s plan, 2) Finding out issues and challenges on fisheries management in provincial level, 3) Consideration of roles and functions of local officer/government officers in facilitating CBFM, 4) Consideration on the way forward. The participants were divided into 3 groups to discussion on these topics. Then, each group presented on the result and got suggestions and recommendations. Furthermore, the training also included the study trip at Nam Thern 2 to learn about fisheries co-management by cooperation between the Fisheries Management Unit and fisheries officers.

ASEAN Regional Workshop for Enhancement of National Support Officer System to Improvement of Autonomous Resources Management and Fisheries Communities

Date: 11-13 March 2014

Venue: Vientiane, Lao PDR

Objectives:

1. Review each country’s activities and legal framework for facilitating community-based resource management with fishing right system.

2. Identify the key factor for successful implementation through case study developed by community-based management.

3. Find out further ways to promote establishing applicable community-based resources management in each country

Conclusion of the Workshop

The ASEAN Regional Workshop for Enhancement of National Support Officer System to Improvement of Autonomous Resources Management and Fisheries Communities was organized on 11-13 March 2014 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The conduct of this Workshop was supported by the ASEAN Foundation and Japanese Trust Fund. The Workshop was participated by the representatives from the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries (except Myanmar and Singapore), Executive Director and officers of the ASEAN Foundation, SEAFDEC Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General and officials of SEAFDEC Secretariat and Training Department, representative from the Mekong River Commission (MRC), and experts relevant to national support officer system.

The Workshop was began by Mr. Bounthong Saphakdy, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Livestock and Fisheries, welcomed all participants to the Workshop. After that, H.E. Mme Elaine Tan, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation, expressed the gratitude for the conduct of this Workshop, following by Dr. Chumnarn Pongsri, Secretary-General of SEAFDEC, once again welcomed all participants to the Workshop. Then, H.E. Dr. Phouangparisak Pravongviengkham, Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR, expressed his gratefulness for the conduct of this Workshop and declared the Workshop Open.

Next session was Dr. Yasuhisa Kato gave a Keynote Speech on “Importance of Support Officer System for Improvement of Community-based Resources Management and Other Activities of Fisheries Community. Then, Mr. Sommano Phounsavath, Acting Director of the Division of Fisheries, Department of Livestock and Fisheries, presented the Background and Introduction of the Workshop. After finished this session, the Member Countries presented their overview of country's support officer system and activities for improvement of community-based resources management and other activities of fisheries community.

In addition, Dr. Yuttana Theparoonrat from SEAFDEC made presentation on “SEAFDEC Support Activities to Member Countries for Improvement Support Officer System and Activities”. The on-going projects/activities of SEAFDEC were also presented, e.g. particularly the training of the trainers (TOT) conducted in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam, aiming to enhance the capacity of fisheries officers and trainers of these countries on fisheries management and co-management, information gathering through community-based fisheries management (CBFM), as well as other subjects as required by countries, so that these trainers could further conduct mobile on-site trainings (MOT) in their respective countries.

Furthermore, there were presentation from invited experts namely, 1) Mr. Hidenao Watanabe, 2) Dr. Tsutomu Miyata, 3) Mr. Shoichiro Okada, and 4) Mr. Sanchai Tandavanitj. The presentation were 1) Support Officer System and Experience in Japan, 2) Effectiveness and Efficiency of Support Officer System for Facilitation of Autonomous Resources Management by Fisher Group and Case Study in Japan, 3) Experience of Support Officer System in Japan, 4) Support Activities by Government for Fisheries Communities in ASEAN, respectively.

Moreover, the Workshop also identified the key factors for effective Support Officer System, as follows:

A) Establishment of System for Fishery Support Service

              Roles of National Government

·         Recognize the importance of support officer system, and have strong will to establish the system

·         Set up of appropriate scheme for the implementation of fisheries support system

·         Develop national guidelines and strategies for fisheries support system, in close collaboration with local government and local officers

·         Allocate sufficient fund and human resources to local government

·         Provide national training courses to support officers to improve their knowledge and skill

·         Establish/strengthen relevant local institutions in close collaboration with local government and community

              Roles of Local Government

·         Develop local guideline that consistence with national guideline, and fit with the requirements of local community

·         Develop strategies and plans of fisheries support system.

·         In the case where budget allocation and number of support officers are inadequate, the strategies and plan should target the areas where CBFM is likely to be success.

·         Set-up support officer team and ensure their mutual understanding on strategies and plans of support system.

·         Provide training for support officer to fit with local requirement.

 B) Implementation of Fishery Support Service at Communities

               Roles of Government

·         Assign clear responsible areas to each support officer

·         Provide necessary inputs, i.e. funds, equipment, etc., to facilitate the implementation of support services

·         Provide training, and facilitate activities for community members/fishers

·         Provide updated information on status of fishery resources as a basis for support officer services

               Roles of Support Officer (Extension Officer)

·         Explore potential leaders and establish close relationship with the community

·         Conduct regular visit to community to discuss their required support

·         Take leading role during early stage of establishment of fisheries community management organization

·         Provide support based on the requirement of specific fisheries community

In addition, The Member Countries identified the difficulties and problems, and way forward for the promotion of Support Officer System for effective CBFM in their respective countries. Taking into consideration the difficulties and problems faced by the respective Member Countries, the common areas that should be considered by the respective countries in establishment/ promotion of Support Officer System to ensure effective implementation of CBFM could be summarized as follows:

- Ensuring the availability of legal framework, policies, strategies and working mechanism to facilitate the establishment and implementation of the Support Officer System.

- Strengthening of local organizations to take leading roles in fisheries/resources management.

- Establishment of Support Officer System at local level to be familiarized with local communities and obtain information on specific requirement of specific communities.

- Allocation of sufficient financial and human resources required for Support Officer System.

- Enhancing capacity of Support Officers, on technical subjects and managerial/communication skills, in order to be able to extend support to local communities.

- Undertaking activities (by Support Officers in close cooperation/collaboration with relevant governmental agencies, local organizations and stakeholders):

   *   Awareness raising: on relevant legal frameworks, conservation and management concepts, etc.

 * Training: on data collection/analysis, implementation of fisheries management and resources conservation/enhancement, financial management, alternative livelihood, etc.

To enhance future promotion of CBFM by the respective Member Countries, the Workshop encouraged SEAFDEC to continue supporting the initiatives, particularly in developing success model(s) for both coastal and inland ecosystems, in order that this could be replicated/expanded in other areas/countries. SEAFDEC was also requested to consider undertaking analysis of Support Officer System (or systems with similar nature) of the Member Countries, and come up with recommendations that countries could refer to in the development/promotion of their respective Support Officer System.

Training course on Facilitating Fisheries Information Gathering Through Introduction of Community-based Fisheries Management

Date: 17-20 June 2013 and 27 October-1 November 2013

Venue: Luang Prabang and Champasack Province, respectively

Objectives:

1. To transfer the knowledge on Lao Fisheries law to local officer and local fishing community.

2. To introduce the knowledge and experience on practical approach to community-based fisheries management and co-management to local fishing community of  Lao PDR.

3. To strengthen practical in competence in cooperation and implementing the applicable inland fishery management plans by local fishing community.

4. Support establishing support officer system towards institutional building of stakeholders for inland fisheries management through capacity building for fisheries extension activities.
5. Provide the practical tool and methodology of fisheries data collection in inland small-scale fisheries for better development and management of fisheries resources to ensure sustainable livelihood for fishing communities.

The Government of Lao PDR promotes on fisheries communities to manage fisheries such as operation on illegal fishing activities by themselves, thus fisheries communities, and institutional as the leader or core person to encourages fishers and farmers through transferring knowledge and activities on sustainable fisheries development and co-management in inland fisheries. In order to promote the concept of community-based fisheries management and co-management to local fishing community, the Department of Livestock and Fisheries of Lao PDR was requested to SEAFDEC for supporting to conduct an on-site training course on facilitating fisheries information gathering through introduction of community-based fisheries management for local fisheries officers of Lao PDR. Therefore, Two training courses were conducted as Lao PDR requested. The first training was conducted in Luang Prabang from 17-20 June 2013. The second training was conducted from 27 October-1 November 2013 in Champasack Province in Lao PDR.

The presentations was the same as on-site training in SEAFDEC's Member Countries. There are both lecture and workshop. The lecture focused on 1) the importance of resource management for sustainable fisheries, 2) Appropriate Monitoring Control and Surveillance, 3) Community-based fisheries management, 4) How to introduce and facilitate community-based fisheries management to fisheries community,  5) Rights-based fisheries management, 6) Concept and effective Methodology on Data Collection, 7) Data collection through CBFM, 8) Improving management of financial and economic activities including promotion of alternative livelihood in fishing communities, 9) Case study on community-based management in Nam Haum reservoir, 10) Establishment of fisher group: under SEAFDEC’s project, 11) Ecosystem approach to fisheries management. Moreover, there are lectures from Laos' side such as introduce Lao fisheries law and Lesson learned on fisheries co-management guideline. 

In addition, the workshop on "how to organize community-based management in each province through reviewing difficulty and find the way go forward" was conducted by divided the participants into 3 groups. The session 1 of the workshop was to conduct pre survey of community, session 2 was education for Community Fisher, session 3 was organize core person meeting, session 4 was establish community fisheries management organization. The participants were very active to participate the workshop.

In course evaluation, the participants were very appreciated and thank to SEAFDEC and DLF of Lao PDR for organizing the training course. Futhermore, the participants suggessted that the training should be organized again and should be extend more than 5 days. As well as the discusstion session is short, it should have more time to discuss.

The training course on practical approach for enhancing community-based co-management in inland fisheries of Lao PDR

Date: 10 - 14 December 2012

Venue: Vientiane, Lao PDR

Objectives:

 1. To introduce the knowledge and experience on practical approach to community-based co-management to fisheries officer of Lao PDR.

2. To train the trainers on organize the community-based management with knowledge of community-based and rights-based fisheries management training course for local fishermen groups.

3. To strengthen practical in competence in planning and implementing the applicable inland fishery management plans.

4. Gathering of the fishery data and information and understanding the indicators of fishery status, (fish catch, fish price, fishing effort), and socio-economic information.

5. Disseminate information materials, such as brochure and poster, for enhancing awareness and knowledge on sustainable fisheries development.

Result

This was an another on-site training course on community-based co-management in SEAFDEC Member Countries. There were three main sessions for the training.

The first session was lecturing on the importance of resource management for sustainable fisheries including the fisheries management methods, which were comprised of MCS, community-based co-management, rights-based fisheries, and ecosystem approach. Besides, the importance of sustainable livelihoods and the communication skill were transferred to the participants. Moreover, the mobile hatchery and fish releasing technique was a special lecture for Lao PDR, which introduced by the officer from DOF of Thailand.   

The second session was the practice on mobile hatchery and fish releasing technique for Common Silver Barb. The participants and fishery officers of Lao PDR prepared the mobile hatchery demonstration in front of fishing village in Nam Houm reservoir. Furthermore, the participants were trained about the hormone injection and fish artificial insemination method.     

The third, trial presentation on two topics; 1) the importance role of resource management for sustainable fisheries, 2) the concept of community-based management and establishment of fisheries community were assigned to the participants. The participants were divided into four groups and make a group discussion to prepare the power point presentation. After that, the participants (fishery officers) would play the role as fishery extension officer to present to the fishery community. In addition, the resource persons evaluated the trial presentation that the participants made a good presentation and used easy word that suitable for local fishermen. Furthermore, the presentation should show the problems in the fishing community first and then introduced the importance of fisher group establishment. After course evaluation, Dr. Yuttana kindly declared the training close.

Report of the Local workshop of inland data collection

Date: 19-22 March 2012
Venue: Vientiane Province, Lao PDR

Objectives:

1. To organize the Local Workshop to improve compilation of information and statistics on inland fisheries in Lao PDR;

2. To pre-test the questionnaire with target group at Inland fisheries in Lao PDR.

Results

Meeting with Director General (DG) of Department of livestock and fisheries

SEAFDEC team inform the meeting the purpose on this visiting that was improving landing data collection by plus consumption in household to get more real product of fisheries resources in inland fisheries. Other purpose was to promote census establishment in SEAFDEC’s member country by asking Lao PDR to propose what is their requirements to improving socioeconomic data collection, for example, on-site training for staffs. Activities will conduct base on member country request by SEAFDEC supporting.

Meeting at Nam Ngum reservoir Fisheries Management Center

For inland fisheries fishing ground, there are 2 big reservoirs in Lao PDR, which was Nam Ngum and Nam Thern, including 17 small reservoirs. The trial site for inland fisheries data collection was Nam Ngum reservoir, Vientiane Province. Officer informed that they started to collect the data on number of fishermen in Nam Ngum from 1999 to 2012. The data show that there are 24 fishermen villages in Nam Ngum reservoir. And in year 2010, there are 201 fishermen who have licensed. Moreover, there are three places for selling inland product. Usually data collection on inland aquatic resources was collected from seller.

Pretest questionnaires
Pre-test of data collection by using questionnaire was done in Ban Sang Sawang village in Kaew Udom District, Vientiane Province. Ban Sang Sawang village compose of 20 unit, in which 4 unit are fishermen villages. DLF’s staffs and SEAFDEC’s team had conducted 5 pre-test questionnaires in the village.

Workshop with fisheries officer at Department of Livestock (DLF)

The workshop was held after pre-test on inland data collection. The purpose of the workshop was show the result of catch product within one year and to improve the questionnaire on inland data collection in Lao PDR. On the total catch product in one year, SEAFDEC offered the equator for calculate from the average caught of each fisherman. The total catch product per one year can come from average catch from survey plus with total fishermen in unit.

In this occasion, trust fund assistant manager asked DLF’s staffs to propose their need for improving their skill on data collection on socio-economic or co-management practice. DLF’s staffs informed that they would like to put the socio-economic and aquaculture product in their data collection plan because Lao PDR are dominant in aquaculture product also.