Participatory management, popular knowledge, and community empowerment: the case of sea urchin harvesting in the Vieux-Fort area of St. Lucia

Participatory management approaches are increasingly recognized as an effective strategy for enabling the sustainable use of natural resources. The southeast coast of St. Lucia is one of the sites where a particular form of participatory management, a co-management regime, was recently developed to control the sea urchin fishery. The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), a NGO based in Vieux-Fort, St. Lucia, played a key role in the development of this co-management arrangement. This case study of the sea urchin fishery in Vieux-Fort examines the extent of the devolution of authority to locally-based sea urchin harvesters, explores the potential contribution of local knowledge to the understanding of sea urchin behavior, and points to elements of a strategy aimed at strengthening the organizational capacity of the core group of sea urchin harvesters. The study addresses both present practice and future possibilities in response to concrete questions raised by participants in the study. KEY WORDS: co-management; fisheries management; sea urchin; St. Lucia; Caribbean; participatory development.