| dc.description.abstract | Beach Management Units (BMUs) were established based on a legal framework under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the East African Community to co- manage fisheries and beach resources along Lake Victoria in partnership with local communities. Discouragingly, despite the efforts to co- manage the beaches with local communities, and the prevalent reliance on both traditional and modern management practices, the BMUs still lack basic physical amenities and sound economic returns. The study sought to determine how traditional and modern beach management practices influence the economic performance of BMUs in Rarieda district, and perceptions of beach management unit managers on alternative management strategies. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design. The target population was 72 BMUs in Siaya County. 28 BMUs were purposively sampled for study. Qualitative data was analyzed for frequencies and trends to determine the management practices used and manager skill levels while SPSS was used for quantitative analysis of the influence of the management strategies on economic performance of BMUs. Regression analysis through a functional model: Y=0o+01X1+ f32X2+B3X3+B.J¼+BsXs+ei sought to empirically establish how management practices influence the economic performance. Qualitative data was analyzed for perceptions of beach management unit managers on alternative management strategies. The study established that two variables under economic performance: modem management approaches (B=O.921, P=O.OO2) and Skill levels of the managers (B=O.O47, P=O.O17) were positively and significantly related to economic performance at 5% level of significance. Traditional management approaches (B= -0.342, P=0.OO1) was negatively significant. However, age and gender had no significance to the economic outputs of BMUs. It is also evident that increased use of traditional methods leads to a decline in economic performance by 34.2%, while increased use of modern approaches results into 92.1 % increase in economic performance. An increase in the level of education of the managers leads to 4.7% increase in economic performance. The findings of this study may be instrumental in improving management capacity of BMU managers in line with modern management approaches and advocating for a policy change in the administration of BMUs to incorporate devolved governments which was favored by majority of respondents. | en_US |