Introduction: Pacific Islanders, “custodians of the ocean” facing fisheries challenges (original) (raw)
Related papers
Introduction: Pacific Islanders as ‘custodians of the ocean’ facing fisheries challenges
2016
This book owes much to the attentive reading and constructive comments of its anonymous reviewers, to Grace Delobel's conscientious work of proofreading and translation, to Pascale Bonnemère institutional support and to Emilie Courel, our publishing assistant. We owe them our gratitude. Last but not least, the realization of both the workshop and the book were greatly facilitated by the efficient assistance of the Protisvalor team. Thank you.
Traditional marine resource management practices used in the Pacific Islands: an agenda for change
Ocean & Coastal Management, 1997
Pacific Islanders should use their traditional marine resource management system to formulate better and more applicable resource management arrangements. With the continued failure of contemporary management methods, the traditional resource users should play a more significant role in the proper utilisation of marine resources in the region. This is because most of the contemporary resource management methods have features that are similar or identical to traditional management systems. This wealth of resource management knowledge should be used to complement and improve contemporary management systems. In fact, if inter-generational equity is emphasised, then the wisdom and knowledge accumulated through time should be the basis of the changes that we make to contemporary management methods. This will enhance the proper management of marine resources. ~) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
The interface between traditional and modern methods of fishery management in the Pacific Islands
Ocean & Coastal Management, 1998
The interactions between government and community in the management of reef and lagoon fisheries in the Pacific Islands region are described, and recommendations made concerning the types of interaction that are most constructive, and which should be encouraged in future. The argument is illustrated with three examples of positive government-community actions from the Pacific Islands – a Cook Islands community-moderated individual transferable quota system, a flexible arrangement in Fiji leading to an effective marine protected area, and a community-initiated gillnet ban in Fiji – and by a general discussion of negative interactions. The tendency of biologically trained fishery researchers to discount the role of the fishing community itself when describing and quantifying fisheries should be avoided, and there is a need to distinguish between those local initiatives arising from views that have evolved over centuries, and those arising from modern entrepreneurialism. It is suggested that a major advantage of community-mediated management is its diversity.
Global Environmental Change, 2022
The emergence of export markets for high-value seafood products tends to produce a predictable pattern of serial depletion of resources and social disruption in coastal communities, a phenomenon described as 'the tragedy of the commodity'. The sea cucumber trade epitomizes these challenges, with cases of rapid growth followed by fishery collapse documented across the Indo-Pacific and the majority of assessed stocks worldwide overexploited. Is this 'boom-bust' sequence inevitable? We examine three cases of resistance to the sea cucumber trade from Palau, Pohnpei, and Yap. Despite the overwhelming short-term financial incentives to export, fishers, youth, elected and traditional leaders, and civil society organizations coordinated to ban the trade at its peak, using public protest, court battles, and customary and statutory law. We show that, like the tragedy of the commons, Indigenous peoples and local communities can organize to resist the tragedy of the commodity. They do so by asserting Indigenous values, rights, and institutions, recommonizing the resource and preventing fisheries collapse. These cases challenge the inevitability of the tragedy of the commodity and the narrative of poor fishers as vulnerable and disempowered.
2019
The Franco-German research project ‘A Sea of Connections: Contextualizing Fisheries in the South Pacific Region’ (SOCPacific, 2018-2021) aims to explore the large web of socio-cultural, policy and geopolitical connections within which both coastal and oceanic fishing practices and fisheries management endeavours occur in this intricate and ever-changing regional setting. After some brief background, this research note presents the project’s set of more specific objectives. It then outlines the rationale for choosing three study areas (New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji) for our analysis of the complex and dynamic ‘sea of connections’ in which South Pacific fisheries are embedded. Finally, it outlines the combination of research tools and concepts that make up the core of the prospected interdisciplinary, multi-level and multi-stakeholder investigations related to these study areas. This approach intends to contribute to the advancement of cross-cutting knowledge in the multi-faceted fi...
Pacific Geographies, 2019
The Franco-German research project 'A Sea of Connections: Contextualizing Fisheries in the South Pacific Region' (SOCPacific, 2018-2021) aims to explore the large web of socio-cultural, policy and geopolitical connections within which both coastal and oceanic fishing practices and fisheries management endeavours occur in this intricate and ever-changing regional setting. After some brief background, this research note presents the project's set of more specific objectives. It then outlines the rationale for choosing three study areas (New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji) for our analysis of the complex and dynamic 'sea of connections' in which South Pacific fisheries are embedded. Finally, it outlines the combination of research tools and concepts that make up the core of the prospected interdisciplinary, multi-level and multi-stakeholder investigations related to these study areas. This approach intends to contribute to the advancement of cross-cutting knowledge in the multi-faceted field of local fisheries management and marine governance.
Sustainability, 2013
While island biogeography and modern economics portray Pacific island nations as isolated, ecologically fragile, resource poor and barely viable economies forever dependent on foreign aid, Pacific island history and culture conceives of their islands as intimately inter-linked to the surrounding ocean and of that ocean as an avenue to expanded resource bases, both terrestrial and aquatic. Pacific Islanders live in the most aquatic human zone on Earth, with the highest territorial ratios of sea to land. Recent studies are revealing the continuity and success of traditional near-shore guardianship of maritime resources in a number of Pacific islands. Sustainable development of seabed minerals and pelagic fisheries may offer enhanced income potential for small island nations with limited terrestrial resources. As offshore ecosystems are poorly policed, sustainable development is best realized through comprehensive planning centred on partnerships between local communities, their governments, marine scientists and commercial enterprises. The success or failure of Pacific Islanders in reasserting their maritime guardianship is now a matter of global significance given the decimation of most fisheries beyond the Pacific and the vast, but uncertain, medicinal, mineral and food resource potential of this huge area of the planet.
Resolving long-term change in Polynesian marine fisheries
asian perspectives, 2003
The often dramatic impact of early Polynesian settlers on island flora and fauna has now been amply demonstrated. Native birds in particular were devastated by the arrival of people and their commensal animals (e.g., Steadman 1991(e.g., Steadman , 1995. Clearance for gardens brought further changes with vast lowland areas being transformed from native forest to open fields, secondary shrub, and in some places, entirely anthropogenic aboricultural systems (e.g., Spriggs 1986). Coastal-nesting species, such as turtles and seals, were also adversely a¤ected, both by direct hunting and otherwise (e.g., Dye and Steadman 1990). Early settlers apparently ate well, with some authors even suggesting that Polynesian colonists were driven to explore by the prospects of rich and varied culinary delights. But what happened when these resources were depleted? Our attention has focused more on the demise of native species and landscape change, and less on the long-term impact these losses had on Pacific island economies.