Navigating transformations in governance of Chilean marine coastal resources

Abstract

Marine ecosystems are in decline. New transformational changes in governance are urgently required to cope with overfishing, pollution, global changes, and other drivers of degradation. Here we explore social, political, and ecological aspects of a transformation in governance of Chile's coastal marine resources, from 1980 to today. Critical elements in the initial preparatory phase of the transformation were (i) recognition of the depletion of resource stocks, (ii) scientific knowledge on the ecology and resilience of targeted species and their role in ecosystem dynamics, and (iii) demonstration-scale experimental trials, building on smaller-scale scientific experiments, which identified new management pathways. The trials improved cooperation among scientists and fishers, integrating knowledge and establishing trust. Political turbulence and resource stock collapse provided a window of opportunity that triggered the transformation, supported by new enabling legislation. Essential elements to navigate this transformation were the ability to network knowledge from the local level to influence the decision-making processes at the national level, and a preexisting social network of fishers that provided political leverage through a national confederation of artisanal fishing collectives. The resultant governance scheme includes a revolutionary national system of marine tenure that allocates user rights and responsibilities to fisher collectives. Although fine tuning is necessary to build resilience of this new regime, this transformation has improved the sustainability of the interconnected social-ecological system. Our analysis of how this transformation unfolded provides insights into how the Chilean system could be further developed and identifies generalized pathways for improved governance of marine resources around the world.

Fig. 1.

Schematic representation of fisheries zoning in Chile. Map is not to scale. Roman numerals indicate administrative regions.

Fig. 2.

Loco landings (black circles), 1968–2008. Loco price is represented on the secondary axis (white circles). Arrows represent the timing of (A) military coup, (B) democratic elections, (C) FAL implementation, and (D) first legal MEABR. Background colors represent different phases of the governance transformation. Overlap between phases is not represented.

Fig. 3.

Alternative SES states. (A and B) SES under open-access regimes. (C and D) SES after governance transformation, under a user rights MEABR system. In A, because of human overharvesting of Loco, the rocky intertidal environment is dominated by mussels. In C (same site 20 y later), because of human exclusion, populations of Loco are persistent in the ecosystem, which has shifted toward one dominated by barnacles, algae, and bare rock (50). In B, the individualistic short-term behavior of fishers is represented in an open-access regime: red arrows show individual Loco harvests. In D, a collective management approach, associated with MEABR policy, is represented by all fishers sharing the Loco harvest.