Preparation of manuscript for publication of thesis: "This Part of the Sea Belongs to Us": Politics, Sea Rights and Fisheries Co-management in the Torres Strait

Co-management arrangements emerged in response to the limits and flaws of centralized, commandand-control, and bio-economic approaches to fisheries management. Acknowledging that fisheries are complex socio-ecological systems, collaborative management purported to be more inclusive of fishers knowledge and preoccupations. Co-management arrangements between central governments and Indigenous polities are widely promoted as opportunities to empower Indigenous peoples and to access and incorporate their knowledge. The study argues for the renegotiation of co-management relationships in a way that genuinely engages with Indigenous worldviews. Collaborative approaches alone are not sufficient to shift the assumptions underpinning Western models and the mechanisms that enable their reproduction.