Social-Ecological Collapse: TURF Governance in the Context of Highly Variable Resources in Chile

Jaime A Aburto,Wolfgang B Stotz,Georgina Cundill

doi:10.5751/es-06145-190102

Abstract

Aburto, J. A., W. B. Stotz, and G. Cundill. 2014. Social-ecological collapse: turf governance in the context of highly variable resources in Chile. Ecology and Society 19(1): 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06145-190102

Highlights

Governance has traditionally been related to governments and what they do
Defining the appropriate spatial scale of the territorial rights could allow fishers to switch among different surf clam beds to maintain their livelihood and support the sustainability of local institutions for resource management
When surf clams became scarce, which occurred in the period between 1995 and 1999, when landings were very low (Fig. 2A), some of the surf clam fishers migrated to the surrounding beaches to continue their involvement in the surf clam fishery

Summary

Introduction

Governance has traditionally been related to governments and what they do. Governance is, more complex (Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2009) and refers to the structures, processes, rules, and traditions that shape individual and collective actions by which societies share power and make decisions (Lebel et al 2006, Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2009, Cundill and Fabricius 2010). Dietz et al (2003) have pointed out that successful commons governance is easier to achieve when (1) the use of resources can be monitored by community members at low cost; (2) changes in resources, user populations, technology, and other economic and social factors take place at moderate rates; (3) community members maintain direct communications and increase their trust of one another; (4) outsiders can be excluded from using the resource at relatively low cost; and (5) users are able to monitor and enforce their collectively designed agreements themselves These characteristics illustrate the importance of considering governance at all scales, but at the local scale where day-to-day decision making takes place and where governance succeeds or fails (Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2009). We analyze this case study through a social-ecological system (SES) lens and develop some hypotheses about effective fisheries governance under similar levels of ecological variability

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion