Territorial use rights in fisheries of the northern Pacific coast of Mexico

Abstract

Critical understanding of territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) are examined through the lens of research on the fishing cooperatives of the northern Pacific coast of Mexico. I contend that the argument for TURFs is problematic in implying that closing access, excluding others from a territory or resources, provides the basis for adopting measures that lead to sustained use and stewardship, or conservation. The success that the fishing cooperatives of the area have achieved in co-managing their lobster fisheries is indeed due in part to the concession system that allocates exclusive territorial use rights to individual cooperatives. But that is only one part of a complex bundle of institutional and resource features of the TURFs that contribute to their success. Further analysis shows that the concession fisheries fit well-known criteria for successful small-scale commons management. However, the risk of over-simplification remains. The functioning and achievements of the cooperatives are also very specific to local histories, ecologies, and the larger socio-political environment, which calls for greater depth and interdisciplinarity in analysis and application.