Assessing Marine Resource Exploitation in Lofanga,Tonga: One Case Study—Two Approaches

This paper is an attempt to combine the results and conclusions of two independently designed research projects, in order to achieve a more complete understanding of the degree of exploitation of living marine resources by a small Tongan coastal fishing community. Results of a socioeconomic resource-driven survey and an anthropological study adopting a commons dilemma approach, agree substantially on the impact of tradition and changes, but disagree with regard to the driving forces. The socioeconomic study argues that dynamics between traditional and modern economic values best explain the state of the community’s coastal fisheries; while the anthropological study argues that social values and obligations still determine to a great extent the goals people pursue with their economic activities. Current fishing pressure, the marine tenure system, and present and future marketing potentials are all factors which may result in conflict between the traditional Tongan system and the modern cash-based, remittance sustained system. These will ultimately affect the current and future status of coastal resources and the social cohesion of the community.

Community Based Fisheries Management and Fisher Livelihoods: Bangladesh Case Studies

Poor fishers in Bangladesh have been disadvantaged by policies that favored powerful people leasing fishing rights. Community-based management was expected to improve fisher access, livelihoods, and the sustainability of fisheries. The impacts of community management in three floodplain waterbodies differed according to the environment and property rights. Where a set of fishers jointly held exclusive rights to a small enclosed lake they increased production by stocking fish and shared the returns. This strategy is productive but attracts competition for profits and fish consumption was unchanged. Access to capture fisheries in floodplain waterbodies enables the poor to catch diverse small fish for their consumption. Yet sustainability requires limits on fishing. Fish sanctuaries were respected, yet catches per day fell when more people from several villages increased fishing effort in a large wetland, while a tightly knit community restored the fishery in a smaller floodplain. Community organizations will need recognition of their long-term use rights to overcome future threats.

Differential sensitivity to capture stress assessed by blood acid–base status in five carcharhinid sharks

Stress from fishing capture can incite potentially lethal physiological changes in fishes. Blood acid–base status has routinely been utilized to gauge the magnitude of the stress response, which is dependent on the nature of the capture event and metabolic capacity of the species in question. The mortality induced by demersal longline capture has been shown to vary among taxonomically similar carcharhinid elasmobranchs. In this study, we aimed to: (1) quantify and compare blood acid–base disturbances associated with longline capture in five carcharhinid species; (2) examine the extent to which these disturbances correspond with reported at-vessel mortality rates; and (3) investigate how interspecific differences in the physiological stress response could relate to life history, ecology, and phylogeny. Results showed that blood acid–base disturbances from longline-capture varied between species, with relative degrees of disturbance by species proportional to previously reported at-vessel mortality rates. In addition, the degree in which metabolic and respiratory acidoses influenced relative depressions in blood pH also differed by species. The differences in blood acid–base status point to discrepancies in the aerobic and anaerobic capacities among these taxonomically similar species, and are important when considering the effects of, and possible means to mitigate deleterious consequences from, longline fishing capture.

From Orders to Borders: Toward a Sustainable Co-managed Lobster Fishery in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland

Over the last two decades, demands by fish harvesters for greater input into policy-making, combined with government cutbacks to fisheries management agencies, have resulted in a proliferation of community-based fisheries comanagement projects in many countries. One such example is found on Newfoundland’s Eastport Peninsula, where a group of lobster harvesters have formed a unique partnership with federal government bureaucrats and university researchers in an effort to protect local lobster stocks from increasing fishing pressure. This paper draws upon interviews with lobster harvesters and others with close ties to the Eastport project in exploring the reasons for the development of this initiative and identifying existing and potential obstacles to its long-term success.

Applying Signaling Theory to Traditional Cultural Rituals

The branch of evolutionary theory known as signaling theory attempts to explain various forms of communication. Social scientists have explained many traditional rituals as forms of communication that promote cooperative social relationships among participants. Both evolutionists and social scientists have realized the importance of trust for the formation and maintenance of cooperative social relationships. These factors have led to attempts to apply signaling theory to traditional cultural rituals in various ways. This paper uses the traditional ritual of mumming in small Newfoundland fishing villages to evaluate alternative hypotheses about the connection between rituals, communication, trust, and cooperation. Mumming is found to be most consistent with the hypothesis that it is a ritual of trust wherein participants take a specific type of risk: the risk of harm at the hands of other participants. Individuals who take this risk actively signal their trust. Conversely, individuals who restrain themselves from inflicting harm on other participants actively signal their trustworthiness.

Seasonality and historic trends in the reef fisheries of Pulau Banggi, Sabah, Malaysia

The reef fisheries of Pulau (meaning “island” in Malay) Banggi, Sabah are not managed, and lack baseline fisheries data despite forming part of a proposed marine park. Thus, a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was applied to obtain a baseline picture about the past and present state of the fisheries. Fish landings were monitored, and fisher interviews conducted to investigate seasonal effects and historical changes in Banggi’s reef fisheries. Monsoon winds were a major driver of seasonal differences in catch quantities for the hook and line, but not the gillnet fishery. Spatial distribution of fishing effort and target species also differed by season. Fishers consistently indicated that Banggi’s fisheries were declining, with a suggested three to four times decrease in catch rates over the last 20 years. Interestingly, it appeared that substantial decreases began in the year 2000. The responses of fishers to seasonal changes, and the resultant implications for management are discussed. Importantly, the need for immediate management policies to prevent further declines and to maintain sustainable reef fisheries is stressed. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Does Tenure Matter? A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Expansion in the Mosquitia Forest Corridor

This article compares how public protection of forests and common-property forest institutions serve to control outside encroachment into frontier forests in Honduras and Nicaragua. The article combines institutional analysis with ethnographically based fieldwork and analysis of land-cover images to evaluate how property-rights arrangements influence monitoring, enforcement, and compliance with rules to restrict agricultural expansion in two biosphere reserves in the Mosquitia Corridor. Findings show that territorial demarcation and common-property rights are important components for frontier forest conservation. In areas with weak enforcement mechanisms and heavy reliance on social norms over official regulatory measures, the findings suggest that the perceived legitimacy of tenure arrangements and their respective land-use rules are fundamental to controlling the agricultural frontier.

“Berry Patch” As a Kind of Place—the Ethnoecology of Black Huckleberry in Northwestern Canada

The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en of Northwestern British Columbia formerly used landscape burning to manage patches of black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), the most important plant resource of their seasonal round. In view of its significance one might postulate that managed sites would conform to a biophysical or ecological type to maximize return for effort. However, a survey of a number of traditionally managed sites indicated that managed sites are characterized by wide variation in biophysical attributes including elevation, aspect and moisture regime, while proximity to fishing sites, village sites, or sites for harvest of alpine resources proved to be a common factor in known historic berry patch sites. We conclude that characterization of the ideal site type for aboriginal V. membranaceum management must include the economy and social institutions of the local First Nations and requires an enhanced appreciation for the sophistication of the strategies and techniques employed in their management and utilization of the species.

Why Folkbiology Matters: Resource Conflict Despite Shared Goals and Knowledge

There is a continuing controversy over Native American fishing and hunting rights. We show that Native American (Menominee) and European American fish experts have a common knowledge base and share values and attitudes associated with fishing practices (though organized around different ethical principles). Nonetheless, perceived group differences are dramatic (especially European American perceptions of Native Americans). Cultural differences in models of nature and associated inference processes appear to mediate these stereotypes and may hold the key to reducing intergroup conflict over resources.

Is it a revolution?

Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence properties is also discussed.

Securing Access to Seed: Social Relations and Sorghum Seed Exchange in Eastern Ethiopia

Access to seed is crucial for farming, though few studies investigate household-level access in the informal ‘farmer seed systems’ which still supply most seed in poor countries. This paper uses empirical data of seed exchange practices for sorghum in eastern Ethiopia to analyze how social relationships influence access to off-farm seed for a major crop. Seed shortfalls are common, and farmer–farmer exchange is important for providing locally-adapted seed to fill this gap, but access varies considerably among households, also affecting quantities supplied and terms of exchange. Preferred sources for off-farm seed (neighbors, government, market) also vary among farmers, reflecting agroecology and asset-ownership, but also differing access to these sources. Social network theories highlight the importance of reciprocal ties, and the cultural norms underpinning them, in accessing seed. These cultural norms are contested, with some claiming that commercial transactions are increasingly common. Implications for interventions supporting farmer seed systems, particularly emergency seed aid, are discussed in relation to the socially-mediated nature of seed access.

Sustained by Snakes? Seasonal Livelihood Strategies and Resource Conservation by Tonle Sap Fishers in Cambodia

This paper situates concerns for conservation of aquatic snakes and livelihood sustainability in Cambodia within a social–ecological systems context and thereby presents a challenge to conventional species-based conservation programmes. Fishing for low-value water snakes has become a widespread activity within the floating communities of Tonle Sap Lake in the last 20 years in response to new market opportunities, provided primarily by a crocodile farming industry. The scale and intensity of this new form of exploitation and reports of declines in catch per fisher have highlighted this activity as a conservation concern, yet its role within local livelihood strategies was previously unknown. We show that it is of increasing importance to the less well-off, and is linked to higher incomes within this group, where it potentially reduces their vulnerability to fluctuations and declines in fish catches. It is particularly important as a means to smooth seasonality of incomes in this flood pulse-driven social–ecological system. We argue that shifts between snake-hunting and fishing, as a market-driven adaptive livelihood strategy by the poor, may be more compatible with wider ecosystem conservation and development goals than alternatives such as increased fishing effort or converting floodplain habitats for seasonal agriculture.

Common Ground: Risk, Scarcity, and Shared Resources in Goan Agriculture

In the Indian state of Goa, communally owned agricultural land has persisted through indigenous state rule, colonial occupation and postcolonial liberation. We show that in Goa, and indeed elsewhere in the world, communally owned land provides protection against scarcity, risk, and state revenue demands in wet rice agriculture. When wet rice agriculture is the primary agricultural activity, communally owned land is an effective way to utilize resources. These findings add to the literature that challenges the inevitability of the tragedy of commonly owned resources.

Forty Years of ‘The Strategy’: Levins on Model Building and Idealization

This paper is an interpretation and defense of Richard Levins’ “The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology,” which has been extremely influential among biologists since its publication 40 years ago. In this article, Levins confronted some of the deepest philosophical issues surrounding modeling and theory construction. By way of interpretation, I discuss each of Levins’ major philosophical themes: the problem of complexity, the brute-force approach, the existence and consequence of tradeoffs, and robustness analysis. I argue that Levins’ article is concerned, at its core, with justifying the use of multiple, idealized models in population biology.

An introduction to the Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) project

The Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) project aims at compiling an overview of genus- and species-level diversity of animals in the continental, aquatic ecosystems of the world. It is a collective effort of 163 experts, and presents 59 articles treating the diversity and endemism of different animal taxa, ranging from microscopic worms to mammals, at global and regional scales. Given their structural importance, an article on macrophytes is also added. Here, we give an overview of the project’s history, and outline the common framework of the various articles, as well as the conventions the experts agreed to adhere to in their treatises. Furthermore, we briefly introduce future prospects.

The two faces of revenge: moral responsibility and the culture of honor

Retributive emotions and behavior are thought to be adaptive for their role in improving social coordination. However, since retaliation is generally not in the short-term interests of the individual, rational self-interest erodes the motivational link between retributive emotions and the accompanying adaptive behavior. I argue that two different sets of norms have emerged to reinforce this link: (1) norms about honor and (2) norms about moral responsibility and desert. I observe that the primary difference between these types of retribution motivators lies in where the normative focus is placed after an offense. In the first form of retribution, the normative focus is on the offended party. In the second, it is on the offender. Next, I show how each class of norms is well tailored to the particular features of the environment in which these forms of retributive behavior emerge. Finally, I consider some philosophical implications of these observations. I suggest that my account, if correct, would pose tough challenges for contemporary philosophical theories of moral responsibility and punishment.

Negotiating Values: Narrative and Exposition

In this paper I focus on the limits of narrative by asking what kinds of things narratives do, and what kinds of texts do related things in other ways. In particular I focus on how narrative genres organise time in relation to value, drawing on functional linguistic models of temporality and evaluation. From a linguistic perspective, the various narrative genres negotiate different kinds of solidarity with listeners, and so the limits of narrative materialise various possibilities for communing in a culture, alongside the potentialities for construing community through related and other genres of discourse—since in general, the limits/possibilities of our language (and attendant modalities of communication) are the limits/possibilities of our social world.

Characterization and management of the commercial sector of the Pohnpei coral reef fishery,Micronesia

Commercial coral reef fisheries in Pohnpei (Micronesia) extract approximately 1,521 kg of reef fish daily (∼500 MT year⁻¹) from 152 km² of surrounding reef. More than 153 species were represented during surveys, with 25 species very common or common within combined-gear catch. Acanthurids contributed the greatest to catch volume, with bluespine unicornfish, Naso unicornis, and orangespine unicornfish, Naso lituratus, among the most frequently observed herbivores. Nighttime spearfishing was the dominant fishing method and inner lagoon areas were primarily targeted. A seasonal sales ban (March–April), intended to reduce pressure on reproductively active serranids, significantly increased the capture volume of other families. Catch was significantly greater during periods of low lunar illumination, suggesting higher fishing success or greater effort, or both. The marketed catch was dominated by juveniles and small adults, based on fishes of known size at sexual maturity. Artificially depressed market prices appear to be catalyzing (potential or realized) overfishing by increasing the volume of fish needed to offset rising fuel prices. These results support the need for comprehensive fisheries management that produces sustainable fishing and marketing practices and promotes shared management and enforced responsibilities between communities and the state. To be effective, management should prohibit nighttime spearfishing. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.