Description
This case study examines the emergent practices of artisanal fishers in a coral reef commons, and the dynamic social processes in which those commons are embedded. Studies of the institutions and governance of shared natural resources, known as a commons, have yielded useful analytical approaches for resource management. However, individual actors and institutions are often decontextualized, inviting an ahistorical and potentially homogenous view of communities that undermines truly community-based management initiatives. Most critically, the actual use of the commons is not authentically reflected in institutions or tools of governance. With practice theory, this research focuses on one community's direct engagement with marine resources as a point of entry for exploring the commons as a coupled social and ecological environment. Using ethnographic methods over an eleven week study, this research addresses the practices that emerge in resource use and the dynamic social context in which the Haloban commons are embedded. Located off the western coast of Sumatra in the islands of Pulau Banyak, the small community of Haloban has experienced two devastating tsunami events in 2004 and 2005 which have altered both the biophysical and social environments. Fishing is the predominant occupation for men, who use a variety of "traditional" gear types and small perahu boats to catch fish, octopus, lobster, and other sealife in the coral reefs and mangroves. There are very few explicit regulations or customary limitations on fishing. However, several situated practices were observed in use, including first-come privileges, self-spacing, and repetition avoidance that are unarticulated and emergent within shifting contexts. Development and tourism are also changing the use, and therefore meaning, of Haloban's marine commons. Taking a perspective of the commons as embedded in these ongoing social, political, and economic processes allows for the incorporation of diversity and complexity into analysis. Exploring those processes and the actual resource use and engagement of fishers with the marine environment may inform more nuanced, adaptable, and truly "local" community-based management.
