TURFtools: A Community-Inclusive Management Design Tool for Small-Scale Fisheries

Small-scale artisanal fisheries, found in coastal areas of many developing countries, rely on traditional fishing practices to provide protein for billions of people around the world. Overfishing, however, threatens the food and job security of these local communities. In order to overcome these threats and ensure seafood supply in the future, governments and international organizations are now using rights-based management solutions to ensure the sustainability of artisanal fisheries.

TURFtools is a user-friendly Microsoft Excel tool that incorporates best available science, local ecological knowledge, and social objectives to facilitate community-driven management decisions. The tool is currently being applied in the Philippines as part of the global Fish Forever initiative and was designed for application in a variety of fishery contexts worldwide.