Conceived and designed the experiments: RCB. Performed the experiments: RCB. Analyzed the data: RCB XB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RCB. Wrote the paper: RCB XB.
In June 2008, Cudney-Bueno began working with the Conservation and Science Program of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, one of the organizations that helped fund this study. However, this occured four years after research took place and none of the activities with the Foundation have been associated with the work that is presented in the paper submitted.
Community-based management and the establishment of marine reserves have been advocated worldwide as means to overcome overexploitation of fisheries. Yet, researchers and managers are divided regarding the effectiveness of these measures. The “tragedy of the commons” model is often accepted as a universal paradigm, which assumes that unless managed by the State or privatized, common-pool resources are inevitably overexploited due to conflicts between the self-interest of individuals and the goals of a group as a whole. Under this paradigm, the emergence and maintenance of effective community-based efforts that include cooperative risky decisions as the establishment of marine reserves could not occur. In this paper, we question these assumptions and show that outcomes of commons dilemmas can be complex and scale-dependent. We studied the evolution and effectiveness of a community-based management effort to establish, monitor, and enforce a marine reserve network in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Our findings build on social and ecological research before (1997–2001), during (2002) and after (2003–2004) the establishment of marine reserves, which included participant observation in >100 fishing trips and meetings, interviews, as well as fishery dependent and independent monitoring. We found that locally crafted and enforced harvesting rules led to a rapid increase in resource abundance. Nevertheless, news about this increase spread quickly at a regional scale, resulting in poaching from outsiders and a subsequent rapid cascading effect on fishing resources and locally-designed rule compliance. We show that cooperation for management of common-pool fisheries, in which marine reserves form a core component of the system, can emerge, evolve rapidly, and be effective at a local scale even in recently organized fisheries. Stakeholder participation in monitoring, where there is a rapid feedback of the systems response, can play a key role in reinforcing cooperation. However, without cross-scale linkages with higher levels of governance, increase of local fishery stocks may attract outsiders who, if not restricted, will overharvest and threaten local governance. Fishers and fishing communities require incentives to maintain their management efforts. Rewarding local effective management with formal cross-scale governance recognition and support can generate these incentives.
Coastal fishing communities are increasingly exposed to global market pressures, making them more vulnerable to “roving bandits” who can deplete local fishing stocks and move on to other areas to do the same
The research community, however, is divided regarding the potential effectiveness of CBM for developing sustainable fisheries
In this study, we question these assumptions and show that the realities of commons dilemmas can be complex and scale dependent. Recently organized fisheries have the potential to develop effective community-based management practices that include the establishment of marine reserves. However, we also show that CBM can collapse when local communities lack linkages to higher levels of governance that help legitimize their organizational efforts
Based on extensive ecological and social studies conducted prior, during, and after reserve establishment, we observed the evolution of CBM efforts in a recently organized inshore fishery of the Gulf of California, Mexico. These efforts - which included the establishment of a marine reserve network and locally enforced harvesting rules - led to a substantial and documented increase in local resource abundance
During the first phase (green), divers from other locations, “roving bandits”, poached on the San Jorge Island reserve. This was followed by local rule breaking and some divers from Puerto Peñasco poaching on the Island (second phase, pink arrows). During the third phase (yellow), all members of the Puerto Peñasco diving cooperative broke their local rules and coastal reserves were targeted. It took less than two months for rules to be broken by all local divers after entrance of roving bandits.
Local divers created and enforced the reserves while working closely with researchers from a local non-governmental conservation organization (Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos) and an academic institution (the University of Arizona) to design and implement a monitoring program for their fisheries (Cudney-Bueno worked with these institutions and the cooperative of divers between 1997–2004, helping facilitate fishers' organizational meetings and leading the monitoring program with commercial divers). Fishers approached these institutions in 1998 to help conduct population assessments and biological studies of their fisheries. Close collaboration between fishers, researchers, and local institutions emerged, leading to the subsequent design, establishment, and enforcement of the network of marine reserves four years after this collaboration began
Undoubtedly, the presence of researchers and an NGO played an important role in facilitating the establishment of reserves. However, we do not elaborate on the conditions or the relative importance of factors that led to the establishment of reserves since this is discussed elsewhere
Community-based management of the marine reserve network relied primarily on a suite of simple rules and means of enforcement, leadership of key individuals, meeting venues that allowed for social and ecological feedbacks, and capitalizing on the region's physical and environmental characteristics.
Fishers designed, monitored, and enforced three main forms of rules: resource-based rules (snail fishing banned June and July; fishing banned within reserves), monitoring rules (mandatory participation in and financial contributions for monitoring) and administrative rules (mandatory: participation in cooperative meetings, monthly financial contributions to the cooperative, and timely provision of paperwork for cooperative). These rules and their sanctions were built primarily on foundations of trust and reciprocity and concerns for the group's well being. Hence, the most effective and usual form of enforcement relied on variations of peer pressure and public shame. This, in essence, could ultimately threaten the rule-breaker's reputation and his social bonds and norms—also known as social capital
Rule Type | Sanction Types | Formal (F)/Informal (I) |
On site warnings and verbal confrontations | I | |
Peer pressure/public shame during meetings | I | |
Threats of temporary confiscation of boat | F | |
Threats of expulsion from the cooperative | F | |
Peer pressure/public shame during meetings | I | |
Extend rule breaker's monitoring responsibilities | F | |
Peer pressure/public shame during meetings | I | |
Threat of expulsion from cooperative after 3 faults | F | |
Temporary confiscation of boat | F | |
Expulsion from the cooperative | F |
To exemplify this, 100% of fishers interviewed said that they trusted that other fellow fishers for the most part respected the reserves. Similarly, when asked the open ended question “In what way would breaking cooperative rules affect you?” all answers fell into three categories: 1) personal guilt and sense of betrayal to the group, 2) concern of the rest of the group's opinion about one's actions, and 3) concern over the possibility of losing trust and friendship.
If someone within the group cheated, the first approach of members of the cooperative was to tap into the personal guilt associated with the event. Often, it was only necessary to bring the case to the attention of the group without singling out specific people. “Cheaters” assumed that at least someone else likely knew who the culprit was. This way, the informer's reputation was also protected and he would not be labeled as an accuser. “Accuser” is one of the worst labels a commercial diver can have, largely because it can undermine his network ties and reliance on these ties when in need of any help. During interviews, when given a choice to express what would be worse, for the group to label you as an accuser or as a cheater, practically all divers found it impossible to make a choice. They were both seen as equally detrimental.
When direct accusations in front of the group did take place, however, these were carried out by the more elder or experienced divers who had already gained high levels of respect within the group. These individuals played a pivotal role during meetings. They gave credibility to agreements and helped maintain, although often contentious, a respectful meeting atmosphere. They were also the main players involved in confronting cheaters directly on site when found breaking any given rule.
Cooperative meetings encompassed a key component for the evolution of cooperation and maintenance of checks and balances. Between summer 2002 and summer 2004, 15 meetings were held, all with an attendance of at least 80% of members. More than acting as a means to discuss various issues pertaining to administration, these meetings provided the main venue to maintain the checks and balances of the system and its functionality. They provided a forum for the development of trust, the generation of rules and sanctions, and allowed for collective feedbacks from biological knowledge gained while commercial diving and/or monitoring. This, in turn, reinforced among the group the perceived benefits of the reserves and played a key role in dismissing poaching allegations and re-enforcing group strength. For instance, it was common for rumors of poaching to develop and quickly spread within the group. However, these rumors were usually dismissed during cooperative meetings. Given that fishers were directly involved in the monitoring process, with designated individuals repeatedly monitoring the same areas jointly with academic researchers, there was a strong sense of individual appropriation towards each monitored site and of other group members' respect towards the reports or opinions of these individuals. Knowing that poaching allegations were often false and that resources were in good health would in turn re-enforce the unity and strength of the group and trust in its members. In short, burden of proof regarding the state of reserves and fishing areas fell largely on fishers themselves.
Knowing if, when, and where a poaching event took place was facilitated by the region's physical and environmental layout. It is simple to know where a diver fishes on a daily basis. The group is small and highly communicative, allowing for the quick spread of information. Coastal reserves are found close to port and fishing activities within them can be easily detected either from shore or from fishing areas. In addition, diving patterns within any given month are constrained by environmental factors, particularly tidal currents and visibility. For instance, during monthly spring tides, when tidal currents are strongest, divers are largely constrained to dive within the reefs south of port. During neap tides, they target offshore areas and the reefs north of port.
In the case of San Jorge Island, which is found farther offshore and is harder to patrol, enforcement relied on more active means. These means, however, were geared towards patrolling entrance of outsiders and not of members of the cooperative. It is quickly known when a diver from Puerto Peñasco goes to the island as this trip demands extra preparation and usually involves overnight stays. Cooperative members would sometimes carry out trips to the island during neap tides with the sole purpose of seeing if anyone was there. However, on three occasions when credible rumors emerged about outsiders poaching, Puerto Peñasco divers also gained the support of the local Navy and fisheries offices to assist in patrolling and enforcement operations. This collaboration was based on the rapport built between divers and local government officials throughout the years rather than as a mandate, as reserves were yet to be formalized at a federal level.
The unique environmental characteristics of the region also facilitated local divers' efforts to discourage settlement of outsiders. A case in point is when a prominent Puerto Peñasco buyer hired divers from another region to work for him at low wages and increase his revenues. Local divers advised them to fish in areas and times marked by intense currents and low visibility. These divers never developed the skills to dive in the region and left soon after.
This relatively informal governance system was highly effective. Regular underwater monitoring visits to reserve sites revealed minimal evidence of fishing activity within reserves. Finding evidence of rock scallop fishing is facilitated by the fact that the right valve remains attached to the rock after the scallop muscle has been removed and its bright white color contrasts with the rest of the reef. In the case of black murex snails, these are only harvested when they form large summer breeding aggregation mounds
Only two years after the establishment of the reserve network, populations of black murex and rock scallops had increased markedly on the San Jorge Island reserve (
The graph depicts differences in relative densities (S.E. bars included) from one monitoring season to another for the main species harvested: murex snails (
Data from divers' catches of rock scallop showed an increase in average mass of 19.9% (
(a) Comparison of the average adductor muscle length and mass of rock scallops from fishing areas (2002 = Spring, two months before reserve establishment). Data from reserves was not obtained as animals would have needed to be sacrificed. (b) Comparison of the average live mass of black murex snails from reserve and fishing areas.
Rapid feedback from fishing resources allowed fishers to expect future benefits of the group's various initiatives. In interviews conducted prior to providing results on monitoring efforts, over 85% of fishers reported benefits from the reserves, wanting to continue the reserves into the future.
Shortly after these initial positive outcomes, local governance faced severe external challenges in the form of: 1) lack of recognition at higher levels of government of the local arrangements, 2) abrupt changes in local government leadership, such as the replacement of the chief of the fishing agency office in Puerto Peñasco, who was a local himself, and (3) new fishing pressure from outsiders. News about these community-based management efforts and the abundance of resources at the reserves spread quickly at a regional scale. “Roving bandits” from more than 300 km away (along the coastline, eight hours travel by boat) began fishing the island. Since reserves and territorial use rights were not formally recognized by the Government, local fishers did not have the right to expel others from their reserves and
Rule Type | Compliance Time A (Before) | Compliance Time B (After) |
Snail fishing banned May-July | 1 | 5 |
Fishing banned within reserve network | 1 | 5 |
Participation in monitoring | 1 | 5 |
Financial support for monitoring | 1 | 5 |
Participation in all meetings | 1 | 4 |
Monthly financial contribution | 2 | 5 |
Providing paperwork necessary for the cooperative | 2 | 2 |
Compliance levels based on percentage of fishers known to have broken the rule at least once: 1 = very low (<10%), 2 = low (10–40%), 3 = moderate (41–60%), 4 = high (61–90%), 5 = very high (>90%). Time A = June 2001–May 2004, Time B = first six months (June–November 2004) after entrance of roving bandits.
Social capital that initially allowed for a rapid evolution of cooperation and self-governance for resource management now facilitated overexploitation and rule breaking (
A combination and interaction of three main factors led to the initial downfall of cooperation within this CBM system: lack of government recognition, changes in local government leadership, and entrance of roving bandits. Once rule-breaking had become prevalent, these factors were further exacerbated by the existing strong social ties among cooperative members, ties that under other conditions had been conducive to CBM. Although we cannot quantify which factor weighed more over the other, not having formal government recognition of management guidelines and of fishers'
The downfall of this CBM effort could be simplistically attributed to a local tragedy of the commons
It is important that CBM efforts that incorporate marine reserves are initially implemented in systems where responses can be measured rapidly and where there is an existing social base for reserve establishment. Reserves reduce the total fishing area, initially render an economic cost to fishers, and complicate management of risk by reducing the physical spaces available to choose from in accordance to variations in environmental conditions and the state of their resources. Stakeholder participation in monitoring, where there is a rapid feedback of the system's response, can play a key role in reinforcing cooperation. In this regard, some sessile or semi-sessile fisheries with rapid growth rates can be good candidates to invest and promote the emergence of social capital and reserve establishment. They can provide a fast feedback to fishers and a setting that can be tinkered with
Nevertheless, even if CBM efforts are effective within the local biophysical and social context, we show that cooperation and strong social capital alone are not enough to sustain their efficacy. Fishers and fishing communities need to be granted formal government recognition of their locally-devised management structures when they appear to be effective. Higher levels of governance have the ability to create incentives for the emergence of local cooperation leading to sustainable resource use. One way of providing incentives for successful CBM is by rewarding such efforts with formal cross-scale governance recognition and support.
In an increasingly globalized economy, the existence of isolated and buffered fishing communities has largely been lost. Yet, as we show, effective CBM that includes costly decisions like the establishment of marine reserves can emerge even in these settings. Not granting appropriate forms of territorial use rights nor formally recognizing and giving viability to effective local management structures and arrangements, as simple or complex as these may be, could threaten a community's existing foundations for sustainable use of fishery resources. In short, without effective cross-scale institutional arrangements in place that provide robustness to a CBM system, just as cooperative behavior can arise it can also fall along with the biological resource base intended to be managed.
Our research followed a mixed method approach that combined qualitative and quantitative research in the social and biophysical sciences, including the development of larval dispersal models to assess reserve effects within and outside of reserves. Comprehensive results and analyses of the biophysical research are provided elsewhere
Research was based on principles of participatory research
Following is a summary of the methods used to address the effects and evolution of the Puerto Peñasco community-based marine reserve initiative.
Ethnographic research on the Puerto Peñasco diving fishery began five years before the establishment of marine reserves, which allowed us to address social dynamics prior to and after the establishment of reserves. Between Summer 2003–2004, Cudney-Bueno conducted fieldwork specifically targeted to address a) if current collective action for the establishment of marine reserves developed quickly and with no or very limited previous experience to define and/or establish collective management decisions, and b) the conditions that facilitated and led to the establishment of community-based management efforts. Through oral histories, we searched for previous cooperative efforts and key past events or situations that could have shaped fishers' interests in adopting more conservation-oriented measures. Oral histories also allowed us to single out and understand relevant issues that may not be as clearly or obviously identified with the use of directed questions. Full results and analyses of this ethnographic research go beyond the scope of this paper and are in preparation.
We complemented our qualitative research with structured interviews. Throughout March and at the beginning of April 2004, we conducted structured interviews with 18 fishers, representing 82% of the members of the diving cooperative of Peñasco. These interviews primarily addressed perceptions of fishers as to the effects and efficacy of their management efforts, factors affecting the evolution of cooperation within the cooperative such as the building of trust among cooperative members. We conducted all interviews at fishers' homes.
Having had the time to build sufficient rapport and trust with local fishers, it became possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the diving fishery, how divers define and enforce rules and regulations, record the presence or absence of poaching events, and note if conflict resolution and consensus-building processes were facilitated or halted.
We estimated changes in relative densities of rock scallop (
The region monitored encompassed the reefs of San Jorge Island and those found near the fishing town of Puerto Peñasco (within 3 km from highest tide line) in the eastern part of the northern Gulf of California, Mexico. This region extends from 31,22,18.1 N; 113,39,09.4 W to 31,15,03.8 N; 113,20,48.1 W (see
We subdivided the region into 5 sampling areas: a) two coastal reserves, Las Conchas and Sandy; b) two coastal fishing areas, Los Tanques and La Cholla; c) one offshore island reserve, San Jorge Island (
We estimated changes in the size and mass of adult (harvested) black murex and rock scallop. For black murex, we collected specimens (n = 244) from breeding aggregations of reserve and fishing sites before the establishment of reserves (Summer 1999) and after their establishment (Summer 2003 and 2004). All snails from reserves were returned to the collecting site, whereas snails from fishing sites were obtained from fishers' catches
For rock scallops, we estimated changes in average length and mass of the adductor muscle, the part of the animal that is commercialized and that fishers return to port. Since the only way of obtaining samples of the adductor muscle is by killing the animal, we limited our samples and analyses to fishing sites. All samples were constricted to Spring (post reproduction) to avoid variations in weight and size caused by glycogen accumulation in the muscle pre and post reproduction
We thank the divers of the