Characterization of an artisanal fishery in Argentina using the social-ecological systems framework

LONDON, SILVIA; ROJAS, MARA LETICIA; IBAÑEZ MARTIN, MARÍA MARÍA; FACUNDO SCORDO; M. ANDREA HUAMANTINCO CISNEROS; M. LUJÁN BUSTOS; GERARDO M. E. PERILLO; M. CINTIA PICCOLO

International Journal of the Commons

International Association for the Studies of the Commons

Año: 2017 vol. 11 p. 1 - 69

1875-0281

Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) studies how institutions(the rules of the game of a society) determine the performance of a social-economicsystem. Elinor Ostrom extends the institutional analysis to the collectiveaction for a particular case, the study of the social-ecological systems (SESs)(Ostrom 1990). Any group that attempts to manage a common resource (e.g. aquifers,pastures) for optimal sustainable production must solve a set of problems inorder to create institutions to facilitate collective action. Some evidences showthat following a set of design principles in creating institutions can lead to overcomethese problems. The aim of the paper is to apply the SES framework to anartisanal fishery community in Argentina in order to: 1) describe the principalfeatures, key variables and relations of the small-scale fishery system; 2) detectthe principal drivers of a potential common-management and the leading detractorsfrom the current communal performance; and 3) analyze the possibility thata self-governing for sustainable fishery may appear. Several drivers for potentialcommon-management and some detractors from the current common performanceare summarized. Artisanal fishery SES is currently at a bifurcation point.A common historical and cultural root, the presence of leaderships, the relevanceof local knowledge, the dependence on the resource to sustainable livelihoodsand the threat of big-scale fisheries area have generated incentives to collectiveaction.But, simultaneously, internal conflicts are the most important barrier for anintegrated community-based management. The heterogeneity among actors andthe relevant external conditions have resulted in two groups diverging in theirself-organization. The work is framed by the project COMET-LA (COmmunitybasedManagement of Environmental challenges in Latin America; EuropeanCommission?s Seventh Framework Programme of Research and Development),which aims to identify sustainable community-based governance for the managementof natural resources that can be used in different social-ecological systemsin a context of climate change and increasing competition in the use of resources.