An understanding of traditional local knowledge and practices is widely viewed as critical for the establishment of sustainable local fishery management. Locals' perceptions of governmental fishery regulations, the use of local knowledge and local practices in fishery management, and fishers' attitudes toward cooperation with the government are of particular interest.The objectives of this research were to identify local knowledge and local practices in the fishing community in the vicinity of the Mae Klong River, KlongKone Sub District, SamutSongkhramprovince, and to determine the fishers' perceptions about fisheries regulations and the use of local knowledge in fisheries management. An Institutional Analytical Design Framework (IAD) approach was used to evaluate how a management institution should be designed, by combining participation from local knowledge and local practices and government or other concerned authorities. Two different types of methods were used for field data collection. The first was interview and discussions with key informants (120 fishers) and the second method was dialogue between formal and informal actors. (10 participants, representing each villages, government official and other related organizations in the vicinity of Mae Klong River, KlongKone Sub district, SamutSongkhramprovince). The study demonstrated that local knowledge and local practices by local community may affect traditional community-level agreements. An example could be taken from the case of local knowledge in the form of beliefs regarding the role of deities in protecting fishers from harm and the practice of securing blessings for better catches can be used to regulate theuse of mangrove forests and other fishery resources. Local communities in Mae Klong River believe and respect the spirit of deities, in the form of The Goddess of River (locally known as -Phra Mae Kong Ka?), which is believed to be the protector of the waters resources and hence will punish the one who violate the River. Local knowledge, in the form of relation between spiritual and material which are still believed by local community, could be a basis for conservation. On the other hand local practices also applied by local community which some of the regulation had been assimilated with the government regulations.Mae KlongRiver Fishers believe that a combination of local and governmental regulation will increase the acceptance of fishing regulations and therefore be more suitable for local fishery management than government-imposed regulation. Government's support in the form of legal framework is an important point, as well as that decision on the fishery management plan should be made by the community, not only by the central or provincial authority alone.
___
Abdullah, N.M.R. and Kuperan, K. 1997. Fisheries management in Asia: the way forward. Marine Resource Economics, 12 : 345-353
Agrawal, A. 2001. Common property institution and sustainable governance of resources. World Dev., 29 (10):1649-1672. doi:10.1016/S0305-750X(01)00063-8
Anuchiracheeva, S. 2004. Right-based and co-management of fisheries for sustainable development of coastal fishing communities in Thailand, (Doctoral Dissertation, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand).
Bhujel, Ram C. 2008. Statistics for aquaculture. Iowa : Wiley-Blackwell, 222 pp.
Foster, S.J. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2010. Tropical shrimp trawl fisheries: fisher's knowledge of and attitudes about a doomed fishery. Marine Policy, 34: 437-446. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2009.09.010
Imperial, M.T. 1999. Institutional analysis and ecosystem-based management: the institutional analysis and development framework. Environment Management, 24(4):449-465. doi: 10.1007/s002679900246
Johannes, R.E. 1998. Government-supported, village-based management of marine resources in Vanuatu. Ocean and Coastal Management, 40:165-186. doi :10.1016/S0964-5691(98)00046-5
Karnjanakesorn, C. and and Yen-Eng, S. 1996. Revision to Thai fisheries law and opportunities for community-based management. workshopreport, community-based fisheries management in phang-ngabay, Thailand, Phuket, 14-16 February 1996
Nasuchon, N. and Charles, A. 2010. Community involvement in fisheries management: experiences in the gulf of Thailand countries. Marine Policy, 34: 163-169. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2009.06.005
Negi, C.S. and Nautiya, S. 2009. Indigenous peoples, biological diversity and protected area management-policy framework towards resolving conflicts. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. World Ecol. 10:169-179. doi:10.1080/13504500309469795
Nielsen, J.R., Degnbol, P., Kuperan Viswanathan,K., Ahmed, M., Haraand, M. and Mustapha Raja Abdullah, N. 2004. Fisheries co-management--an institutional innovation? lessons from south east asia and southern africa. Marine Policy, 28:151-160. doi:10.1016/S0308-597X(03)00083-6
Ostrom, E. 1986. An agenda for the study of institutions. Public Choice,48:3-25. doi:10.1007/BF00239556
Ostrom, E., Gardner, R. and Walker, J. 1994. Rules, Games and common pool resources. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
Pomeroy, R.S. 1995. Community-based and co-management institutions for sustainable coastal fisheries management in Southeast asia. Ocean and Coastal Management, 27 : 143-162. doi :10.1016/0964-5691(95)00042-9
Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP).2013a.Gender Mainstreaming in Small Scale Fisheries. Bangkok: RFLP, 12 pp.
Ruddle, K. and Satria, A. 2010. Managing coastal and inland waters: pre-existing aquatic management systems in South East Asia. Dordrecht: Springer, 188 pp. doi : 10.1007/978-90-481-9555-8
SEAFDEC. 2002. Resolution and plan of action on sustainable fisheries for food security of the ASEAN Region. Proceeding Vol. 2. Technical Report. ASEAN SEAFDEC Conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security in the New Millennium. Fish for the People. Bangkok: SEAFDEC, 2002, 105 pp.
Suravanichakit, N. 2009. Natural heritage value and sustainable use of the lower segment of The Mae Klong River, SamutSongkhram Province. Graduate School, Silpakorn University.
Tokrisna, R., Boonchuwong, P. and Janekarnkij, P. 1997. A review on fisheries and coastal community-based management regime in Thailand. Fisheries Co-Management Project Working paper 32. ICLARM, Manila, 1997.
Van Beek, S. 1994. Thailand reflect in a river. Hong Kong : Wind and Water