9.1 Historical issues, change and specific stakeholder groups
9.2 Temporary population movements
9.3 Cultural and political changes
9.4 History of management
9.5 Seasonal variations
9.6 Long-term processes of change
9.7 Sudden changes
Social conditions are subject to constant change and, even in so-called "traditional" societies where the pace of change may seem slow by urban standards, this dynamic element in the social system must be taken into account when preparing management or development measures. Awareness of this historical element is particularly important because fisheries teams often have only the opportunity to experience conditions on the ground for a short period. This means that they may only be aware of conditions during one season, or at one historical moment.
The analysis of historical processes and changes which have already taken place can help managers to understand current trends and the processes in which they are intervening. Sociological and anthropological skills are especially important in understanding the past, particularly in areas where the main source regarding the past is word-of-mouth. Distinguishing fact from legend and determining the significance of stories and accounts of the past can provide a depth of understanding of the present which would otherwise be lacking. This understanding can then inform the process of analysis by suggesting how different types of measures or interventions will be adapted and incorporated into the existing fisheries system over time.
9.1.1 Gender issues
In many parts of the world, women's role in the economy and in decision-making processes has undergone a radical change in recent years. The activities of NGOs, urbanisation, regular contact with new sources of information and the weakening of traditional gender roles as more and more women engage in new forms of work have all led to significant shifts in the norms regarding women's behaviour.
An understanding of the historical processes affecting the roles of women is important if current conditions are to be put into proper perspective. This can be particularly important where there is strong resistance from some parts of society to changes in women's roles which managers have to accommodate.
The role of women, in the household and in the community, frequently changes according to seasonal variations. Conditions at certain times of year may put a particular strain on women. For example, during the dry season in monsoon climates the distance which women have to cover to collect water for the family may increase dramatically and, with this, the amount of time that needs to be devoted to repetitive household chores. Such seasonal changes in women's roles need to be carefully considered before introducing new activities intended to replace fishing, as they may add to women's workload at times of the year when they are already under considerable strain.
9.1.2 Age issues
Differences in generational outlook and changing values are an integral part of almost all communities. But changes in occupation, education, commercialisation of fishing activity and degree of contact with the "outside" world can all accentuate these differences. Older and younger members of stakeholder communities may have very different points of view regarding the resource and its use and such attitudes may be subject to rapid changes which may affect management. Real changes in the different roles accorded to older and younger members of the community need to be assessed if impacts on these groups are to be properly understood.
At particular times of the year, different age groups may make particularly important contributions to the family's livelihood. These seasonal shifts need to be borne in mind as much for the old and young as for other members of the community.
9.1.3 The community
Community history will have important effects on the present and future conditions of both the resources which the community exploits and the households and people who rely on them. The patterns of settlement, changes in population, the arrival and departure of individuals and ethnic, professional or socio-economic groups, the history and development of formal and informal community institutions and changes in the structure of power and decision-making responsibility will all influence the current state of resources and how they are used. They may also indicate how conditions will change in the future which can be of crucial importance in indicating to fisheries managers whether they are witnessing the effects of resource exploitation by fishers or of natural cycles in the resource itself.
The interaction of longer-term changes with seasonal shifts in the resource also needs to be carefully studied as planners and managers will rarely have the time or opportunity to observe and understand changes in the same way that community members do on a year-in-year-out basis.
9.1.4 The household
Each household in a community will have its own history and cycle of development which will reflect the changes in the environment and community as well as the changes within the household. The ways in which households react to change will provide important indicators regarding the access of different groups to resources and alternatives.
Stages in the household development cycle maybe be particularly important in determining the extent to which different groups are dependent on fisheries. Fishing or involvement in fisheries-related activities may be associated with only certain phases of this cycle. The extent to which this is the case for fisheries targeted for management has to be understood as it may affect the way in which compensation packages are introduced.
The seasonal strategies adopted by households are also important indicators of longer term changes and need to be fully considered.
9.1.5 The production unit
Production units have to adapt continually to changes in the resources they exploit, whether on a seasonal or more long-term cycle, and in production trends. The ways in which production units may have adapted in the past can provide important indications of how they might react to changes caused by management measures in the future.
Shifts in the supply and demand for fish will also influence the ways production units function and the choices they make regarding technology and investment. Producers' reactions to changes in supply of fish which might have taken place in the past, whether because of changed access or natural processes, can be looked at to see how they have adapted to events which may be quite similar to expected management impacts.
Demand may depend on distant urban markets and be affected by more wide-ranging market processes which may require study as well. Changes in demand, such as a shift towards higher-value fish of a certain type, may open up new market channels and encourage developments such as the importation of fish or aquaculture of particular species. These are changes which may continue side-by-side with changes caused by management and their effects may be important for fishers, either creating new opportunities or reducing the relative importance of management impacts.
Changes in technology, and the social status associated with the use of certain technological innovations, may be more important than the economic incentives commonly regarded as being paramount at the production unit level. The spread of outboard motors in many parts of the world has often had as much to do with people's desire to be associated with fast, visible and "modern" technology as it has with real improvements in the performance of fishing units. Thus the unwillingness of many fishers to accept slower but far more efficient and cost-effective inboard motors.
Where access is not controlled, fisheries may be used by displaced people, refugees, migrants or other temporary residents as it may be one of the only resources available which does not require any tenure or residential rights in order to be exploited. These forms of exploitation by non-permanent residents can be particularly important as it is often the sort of exploitation which can lead to damage to the fishery. At times of crisis due to natural disasters or political and social unrest, large numbers of people deprived of their normal source of livelihood may suddenly turn to fishing and acute pressure on the resource can result. Those managing changes in fisheries will need to check on any events of this kind which may have affected the area where intervention is being considered. Attempts to impose restrictions on fisheries may have serious negative impacts on extremely vulnerable groups for whom any change in their already limited access to resources might be disastrous.
Often, "temporary" use of fisheries during periods of crisis can become protracted and end up as a more or less permanent change of livelihood. Where social groups have to move from one area to another, abandoning the land and possessions, they may have to rely on the use of common property or open access resources such as fisheries.
9.2.1 Migrant communities
Many fish stocks are highly migratory and fishing communities in many parts of the world have developed migratory work patterns to enable them to follow the resource they depend on, or move to locations where fishing can be carried out most effectively and efficiently. Where restrictions on the exploitation of these migratory stocks is under consideration, the activities of migrant fishing communities have to be considered and mechanisms sought out for involving them in management decision-making.
This may involve considerable flexibility on the part of agencies responsible for fisheries. Informal institutions and decision-making mechanisms in migrant communities may be quite different from those found in more settled communities. Many migrant fishers may already have long-standing relations with "host" communities in the areas where they go to fish which may help fisheries managers trying to include migrant groups in management programmes. Migrant fishers may also have special access arrangements quite different from those of local fishers.
The cultural and political history of an area can have an important effect on who currently exploits fisheries resources and how they exploit them. Changes in control of political or administrative power will often lead to shifts in patterns of access distribution particularly where access to the fisheries resource is distributed along lines of patronage. While fisheries managers may be inclined to dismiss such factors as "local politics" and not relevant to their work, their interventions on the resource may well have an impact on local political systems. More likely, the success and failure of management interventions will be affected by the degree of support or opposition elicited within local political systems.
This applies equally to industrial fisheries in "developed" countries and to artisanal fisheries in less developed regions. In Europe, the distribution of quotas to the fishing industries of different member nations of the EEC has inevitably become a form of political bargaining chip. Politicians in all the countries concerned, whether at the national level or at the level of the European Parliament, have inevitably undertaken to ensure better access and quota distribution for their constituents in fishing communities. And just as inevitably the political line taken by different politicians is influenced by their political affiliation and constituency concerns. Management measures which have to be approved by political authorities therefore have to take these political issues into consideration if they are to meet with any success.
Many fisheries will have a history of management. This may be either "formal" management supported by outside agencies or customary management of some kind. Before the introduction of new measures there will be a need to look carefully at what has occurred during past efforts to manage the resource as this may give important indications regarding current and future responses to management among stakeholder communities.
Where "formal" management has already been in force in the past, a detailed picture of the agencies and institutions involved should be prepared, and local people's attitudes and responses to these efforts ascertained. If there have been customary mechanisms in place in the past, their current effectiveness should be checked or the reasons for their failure looked into. New mechanisms will need to avoid arrangements which have failed in the past and may need to overcome negative perceptions of management in general.
Seasonal changes in climatic conditions and in the fishery can be of great importance for fisheries management but they are very easily missed during the sort of relatively brief field work which generally informs management and decision-making processes. Sociologists have to make a special effort to identify seasonal trends as thoroughly as possible and include them in their analysis. This may require the collection of a broad sample of seasonal strategies from a wide variety of households both within the fisheries sector and outside.
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BOX 16 The haor region of north-eastern Bangladesh is a deep
depression surrounded by hills where some of the highest rainfall on earth is
recorded. During the period just before the onset of the monsoon, from February
to May, seasonal storms can cause extremely intense rainfall on these hills
which leads to flash flooding in the lowlands below. These early floods trigger
migrations of fish out of residual waterbodies, rivers and swamps onto the newly
inundated floodplains and gives rise to a seasonal fishery known as the ozaya
maatsch. As fish are funnelled by the fresh floods through narrow channels
onto the floodplain, almost everyone living in haor communities can be
found out catching fish using every means possible. This fishery is seasonally
very important both for fish consumption and sale. But it is usually very
short-lived and irregular in its occurrence during this pre-monsoon
period. |
Longer-term changes in the environment and in resources may be more difficult to identify clearly but they may be very important in explaining current patterns of resource exploitation and the ways in which groups of stakeholders have organised themselves to make use of their resource base.
Long term change may result from natural shifts in climate or topography or it may be the result of cumulative human interventions. In the basins of large rivers, changes in the course of the river and processes of siltation, either from natural causes or as a result of human activity, can cause gradual shifts in people's livelihoods. One type of fishery can slowly give way to another which is better adapted to new conditions. Marketing systems, institutions and access arrangements may all have to adjust correspondingly.
Clarifying these longer-term trends is extremely important if current conditions, and the ways in which stakeholders and resource users are reacting to them, are to be placed in proper perspective.
In a similar way, the past history of particular events which may have had significant impacts both on resources and on the way people use them has to be analysed. Where relatively sudden catastrophic occurrences are common, people may have developed particular strategies to deal with them and these strategies may colour the entire pattern of resource use and the way in which they husband resources.
The likelihood of famine, drought, floods, extreme climatic events such as storms or tornadoes, earthquakes and tidal waves may all influence people's decisions on resource use. In some cases, such as floods and earthquakes, the physical characteristics of resources and the surrounding environment, can change quite dramatically very suddenly. Such events can sometimes lie at the root of important shifts in the social and cultural features of community as they may induce complete changes in livelihood strategies, place of residence and mode of production.
