ABSTRACT
Floodplain fisheries are prone to conflict (Charles 1992). Conflict in such natural resource systems is caused by ‘rising populations and/or a decreasing natural resource base’ (Bennet et al 2001). Generally this becomes an issue when there are competing interests for the same resource and one party tries to assert its ‘interests’ over those of other parties (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] 1998). Fundamentally, these conflicts can be defined at three levels: intra micro-micro conflicts, inter micro-micro conflicts and micro-macro conflicts (Warner 2000). These definitions apply to conflicts occurring respectively within communities (intra micro-micro), among communities (inter micro-micro) and between communities and external groups such as government agencies or private and civil society organizations (micro-macro). Charles (1992) attributes some of the fishery conflict to policy failure, arguing that a management attempt to increase or introduce efficiency in a fishery generally equates to social well-being, as a management objective, to rent maximization from the fishery, which may cause conflict due to conflicting philosophies.
