Evaluation, scénarios et viabilité écologique et économique des pêcheries côtières tropicales : application au cas de la Guyane Française

The need for an integrated approach to fisheries is now widely affirmed, including the FAO, in particular in the context of tropical artisanal fisheries. These small-scale fisheries, often multispecies are very important in terms of production, employment and food security. However these fisheries and the exploited resources are often characterized by a lack of data making difficult their management within an ecosystem approach, and by the ecological and economic system complexities including trophic and technological interactions. This thesis aims to contribute to the development of bioeconomic tools for small tropical fisheries in a sustainable management perspective based on the ecosystem approach. In this perspective, the French Guiana coastal fishery constitutes an interesting case study. The thesis proposes multi-criteria evaluations, complex bioeconomic models and viable management scenarios for this fishery. At first, multivariate statistical analysis suggests a satisfactory overall status of the fishery in terms of sustainability. However, some performance differences are noted within the fishery, particularly at border areas. Also, management improvements are proposed. Then, through bioeconomic modeling, projections of different fishing scenarios show that, in the long-term, the current exploitation level may not be consistent with the future increase of local demand and a loss of biodiversity may occur. A scenario called "co-viability" reconciling ecological, economic and social objectives, with a high probability of achievement is exhibited. Finally, the comparison of optimal behavior in cooperative and non-cooperative conditions, confirms that harvest levels are greater when actors do not cooperate. Furthermore, it is shown that the state of the ecosystem depends on the fishing strategies and the type of interaction between species. Beyond the diagnosis made for the case study, the method is promising in the context of small tropical fisheries, while the co-viability approach allows finding the exploitation conditions under which ecological and socio-economic sustainability are meet, what the conventional fisheries management generally do not allow.