Researcher(s):
Jesse McDermott-Hughes Heather Shaw
ENVS course(s): 220 Initiated: November 2017 Completed: December 2017 Go to project site
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As more expansive methods of production constitute a greater and greater portion of resource economies, the question of how to protect small scale resource economies has become more and more relevant. Chile is a country with one of the largest annual commercial fishing catches in the world. This project was primarily an analysis of Chile’s TURF (Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries) system because it has contributed to the success of artisanal fisheries (a small-scale resource economy). In Chile, “artisanal [fishery] landings have consistently exceeded industrial landings” (Moreno and Revenga 2014). TURF is a system where the right to harvest particular species in particular areas is allocated by the fishers themselves. This holds fishers responsible for sustaining species population and incentivizes good fishing practices. Chile has not managed to avoid an overall decline in fish stocks. That being said, TURF is an example of how bottom-up forms of management can protect small-scale resource economies. Governments could protect small-scale resource economies by providing a framework where those who harvest small scales resources can determine the appropriate regulations to sustain their respective resources and economies.
Framing question; How can we protect small scale renewable resource economies?
Focus question; Has the Chilean government's approach to protecting small scale fishers been effective?
The methodology that we used to conduct this entailed doing scholarly research, qualitative and quantitative analysis as well as created an ArcGIS map to help execute our project.