Transformations in Marine Governance in Chile

Stefan Gelcich and coauthors (including Per Olsson and Carl Folke of the Stockholm Resilience Centre) write on "Navigating transformations in governance of Chilean marine coastal resources," published in PNAS:

In 1991 new fishery legislation was passed in Chile … drastically reform[ing] the right to fish within and between the industrial and artisanal fishing sectors. … This legislation enabled a national-scale transformation in governance toward a more sustainable pathway, particularly for the socially and economically important artisanal sector. However, achieving this transformation was more complex than simply changing legislation or introducing new restrictions on resource use. …

The first pilot management and exploitation experimental area was implemented in 1989, after an agreement between scientists from Las Cruces Research Station and the fisher association of Quintay. … These pilot experiences constituted a set of critical learning platforms, which generated new knowledge and practices and helped to develop a shared vision of local fisher associations having exclusive rights and responsibilities to collectively manage local benthic resources. …

Members of the confederation of artisanal fishers acted as institutional entrepreneurs and facilitated the cross-scale and the cross-organizational interactions that were required to transform the social-ecological regime. In effect, the confederation of fishers represented a bridging organization that could enhance vertical integration from local to national levels among different players.

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