Conviviendo con la escasez. Cultura y adaptabilidad pesquera en el lago de Chapala

Abstract

This paper examines different adaptive responses that lakeside communities develop when faced with environmental change. The focus lies particularly on rural towns near lake Chapala, Mexico, affected by water level fluctuations. These situations require social reorganization, especially among groups whose survival is directly dependent on the lake’s integrity, such as fishermen. Using an adaptation and adaptability framework, various historical and current strategies used to confront scarcity and lake stress in La Palma, Michoacan are contrasted. Our aim is to highlight the changing social position of the fishing trade, and its most influential cultural features that have allowed its continuity.