ownership at sea: fishing territories and access to sea resources

Abstract

By showing that small‐scale fishermen practice a number of forms of self‐regulation, among them some that many have referred to as “property” at sea, anthropologists have challenged the assumptions of the “tragedy of the commons” model—that unregulated harvesting of a common‐property resource is the cause of depletion of sea resources. Some have been inspired by ecological models of territoriality developed to explain the behavior of human foragers. We argue that rules of access to sea resources can only be understood in the context of the total socioeconomic system of which they form a part, including its land‐based component. We also suggest that while the concept of ownership does apply to some forms of sea tenure, the extension of the concept to include informal rules of access is obfuscatory. [fishing, ownership, sea tenure, ecology, states]

Customary Sea Tenure in Oceania as a Case of Rights-based Fishery Management: Does it Work?

“…For instance, in countries like Samoa, Fiji, Palau, PNG, the Solomons, and Vanuatu statutory law recognizes indigenous tenure over sea space, although the state's protection of indigenous tenure rights varies from place to place. In sum, CST does not merely entail ownership of resources but also implies a shared socio-cultural identity and requires communal self-governance by those who hold them (Durrenberger and Palsson, 1987;Jentoft et al, 1998). CSTs operational principles, however, are comparable to those of ITQs and CDQs.…”

The fishing protected zone in Senegal : Between the terroir of the fisherman and the course of the fish. What management scale ?

“…Ainsi, le terroir maritime villageois ne couvre pas le territoire du poisson, il est distinct du parcours du poisson qui ignore les frontières villageoises. Ce parcours ou aire d'évolution du poisson que nous avons appelé ici territoire du poisson, espace non maîtrisable, à conquérir, aux limites toujours reculées, mais jamais encore fixées, permet de ne pas confiner la gestion de la ressource halieutique à la seule gestion des eaux adjacentes d'un village (Durrenberger et Palsson, 1987).…”

¡Defendamos Díchato! Bienes comunes y conflicto territorial en los espacios litorales chilenos

“…Los hechos están en contra de Hardin ya que como demuestran las investigaciones empíricas a lo largo del globo las comunidades han constituido una amplia gama de instituciones y normas para regular y limitar el uso, además de prever la sobreexplotación (Durrenberger & Pálsson, 1987). La gestión de los bienes comunes debía ser entendida, entonces, más bien en torno a la dinámica de los conflictos entre diferentes grupos sociales situados en momentos históricos concretos (Aguilera, 1991;Gascón, 1996;March, 2013;McCay & Jentoft, 1998).…”