Social Principles Underlying Traditional Inshore Fishery Management Systems in the Pacific Basin

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Among fisheries management schemes, those based on sole ownership concepts have been relatively little studied. This concept has been most widely applied in the traditional fisheries management or sea tenure systems of the Pacific Basin, where, unlike the West, sole ownership resides in the community or other small social group. Information on Pacific Basin sea tenure systems remains largely anecdotal and unsynthesized. In a partial attempt to overcome that, this article defines and exemplifies six social principles common to many traditional systems of sea tenure in inshore fisheries management in the Pacific Basin, with reference to Oceanian islands, and based on an examination of the literature and supplementary field research. These principles are that: (1) sea rights depend on social status, (2) resource exploitation is governed by use rights, (3) resource territories are defined, (4) marine resources are controlled by traditional authorities, (5) conservation was traditionally widely practiced, and (6) sanctions and punishments are meted out for infringement of regulations. Most remaining systems are hybrids of traditional and modern components, with the latter becoming dominant. Interpretation of the literature without supplementary field verification is severely constrained by the use of the "anthropological present" tense.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: