Factors affecting sustainability in small-scale fisheries embedded in Marine Protected Areas: case studies from Latin America.

MAURICIO CASTREJÓN; JAIME ABURTO; ANA CINTI; VALERIA PENCHEL; STUART FULTON; DANIELA ALARCON; FRANCISCO FERNÁNDEZ; LUISA RAMÍREZ; ALEXANDRE SCHIAVETTI; LUCIANA LOTO; ANA PARMA

Lima

Conferencia; XVII Biennial IASC Conference; 2019

International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC)

The identification of the factors influencing the sustainability in common-pool resources (CPRs) has engaged scholars from around the world for several decades. The theory of the commons was initially constructed on the basis of relatively simple cases, e.g. single CPRs and user groups, placing a strong emphasis on local dynamics. However, most institutional systems involving CPRs are multi-level and complex; this challenged the wider applicability of the theory. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), many small-scale fisheries (SSFs) occur inside marine protected areas (MPAs) and are typical examples of complex commons, where resources are used by multiple users and user groups. On the one hand, these SSFs are critically important for food security and nutrition, poverty eradication, and equitable development for millions of people. One the other, they operate within ecologically sensitive areas and receive some form of protection for biodiversity conservation reasons. The formal recognition of the need to protect these key biodiversity areas has created opportunities, but also presents challenges for SSFs governance and sustainability. Diverse formal institutions have been independently designed and implemented in different countries to accommodate SSFs (among other uses) and conservation objectives. Examples include Extractive Reserves in Brazil, Biosphere Reserves in Mexico, Marine Reserves and Mangrove Exploitation Areas in Ecuador, Integrated Regional Management Districts and National Parks in Colombia, and Multiple-use Marine Protected Areas in Chile and Argentina. In this paper we contrast various formats of MPAs in the LAC region that have SSFs operating inside their boundaries and differ in their governance approach (e.g. top-down, bottom-up, mixed), design, and implementation. Using the SESs framework (Ostrom, 2007, and subsequent works), and the critical enabling conditions for sustainability on the commons (Agrawal, 2001), we investigate the factors that have positively or negatively affected the sustainability of SSFs in a diverse collection of cases. Some of the enabling conditions identified that were present in at least 50% of the cases studied include: low mobility and the economic value of the target resources, existence of supportive external sanctioning institutions, traditional management systems and/or secure access rights, locally devised rules, strong leadership and tight communities with shared norms, and active partnerships. Two conditions were deemed relevant in some of the case studies and might be added to the conceptual frameworks: the agency of MPA and/or fisheries? administrators (their values and interests shape priorities) and the participation of users in formal management. This study provides valuable lessons regarding the joint governance of MPAs and SSFs based on LAC experiences, as well as theoretically-relevant insights regarding key factors for sustainability in complex social-ecological systems, a theme of increasing academic interest.ReferencesAgrawal, A. 2001. Common property institutions and sustainable governance of resources. World Development 29(10):1649-1672.Ostrom, E. 2007. A diagnostic approach for going beyond panaceas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 104 (39):15181-15187.