Begossi, Alpina (1993) Fishing Spots and Sea Tenure in Atlantic Forest Fishing Communities

Conference: Presented at "Common Property in Ecosystems Under Stress," the fourth annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Manila, Philippines, June 15-19, 1993.

Abstract: "Recent work has dealt with the local management of aquative resources as an alternative to Hardin's 'tragedy of the commons.' In communities with no formal management of resources, informal ownership of fishing spots or conflict situations may be a basis for future local management. In this study, I analyze the use of aquatic resources by four fishing communities in the Atlantic Forest coast, southeast Brazil: Buzios Island, Puruba and Picinguaba in Sao Paolo, and Jaguanum Island, at Sepetiba Bay in Rio de Janeiro State. Field work was carried out at Buzios in 1986-7; at Jaguanum in 1989-90, and at Puruba and Picinguaba since 1991. Procedures included interviews, sampling of fishing trips and other direct observations. Informal ownership of fishing spots, used for set gillnet fishing, is regulated by kin ties at Buzios Island, The artisanal fishers of Jaguanum Island had a situation of conflict with Bay 'intruders,' such as the shrimp and herring fishing boats. Finally, the two coastal communities, Puruba and Picinguaba, have conflicts with fishing regulations from a State Park (Parque Estadual de Serra do Mar) created in 1977."