In some cases it was also agreed to send boat owners’ PR-171 price representatives on fishing voyages to reduce misunderstandings regarding illegal landings. In the absence of strict enforcement from the government, both groups urged close supervision by their associations for proper implementation of the decisions. Due to these initiatives, some fishers in the study started receiving written contracts for labor payment from boat

owners for the 2006 fishing season, where none had been provided in 2005. However, although this was a positive step towards resolving these conflicts, there was concern among the fishers involved over whether the majority of boat owners who had agreed to this solution would honor it by drawing up and abiding by contracts in the absence of a formal system of governance to ensure that this was done. Training of extension agency and NGO staff and community leaders on the Participatory Action Plan Development (PAPD) consensus building tool was found effective for developing community action plans for conflict resolution. The steps of PAPD include: identifying the most likely potential conflicts in an area; conflict solution analysis to assess the likely impact of actions needed to achieve these solutions, and; forming consensus on solutions (Sultana and Thompson, 2004, Barr and find more Dixon,

2001 and Holmes and Scoones, 2000). The PAPD method engages stakeholders who have existing or potential conflicts with fishers over the use of common fishery resources. This consensus building approach helped to resolve some critical conflicts in the study area. In Moheshkhali Upazilla, Cox’s Bazar district, for example, the dispute between fishers and local administration over fish drying places was identified as the most severe conflict. In order to make the place attractive to tourists, the local administration had banned fishers

from processing or drying fish near the beach. This triggered a spate of arguments between locals and the authorities as fishers derived much of their Amino acid livelihoods from fish drying. Through the PAPD exercise, fishers and the local administration agreed that an alternative spot would be allocated for fish drying activities. Fishers and enforcement officers who participated in the PAPD process explicitly understood the importance of conflict resolution and consensus building in the development of an action plan for improving fishers’ livelihoods and for sustaining the tourism industry. ECFC formed a Fishery Management Advisory Committee (FMAC) at upazilla and district level to support the sustainable conservation of fishery resources. The committee was headed by the local administrative chief, and all other extension agencies and institutions involved in coastal fishery management, including fishers’ representatives, were members.