Demographic variability and scales of agreement and disagreement over resource management restrictions

Abstract

Conflicts over the imposition of restrictions in common-pool resources management institutions are expected to arise from variations in human values, perceptions of justice, and the disparate demographic scales of benefits and costs. We hypothesized and tested a series of propositions about how the demographic scale and context of common restrictions would influence coral reef fisheries of 4 African countries. We surveyed the preferences and perceived benefits of 1849 people in 89 fish landing sites for 6 common restrictions of increasing severity. Variability in perceived benefits within and between neighboring communities was evaluated to determine how perceptions changed with the severity of the proposed benefit/cost restriction scale, perceived benefits, disparities between beneficiaries, and national context. Within-community variability declined strongly (r² > 0.90) as perceived benefit increased but was either weak or not significantly associated with the neighbor-community's variation. Within-community variation was less than between-community variation and differed by nation. There was generally broader scale agreement on the benefits of weaker restrictions of minimum sizes of fish and allowable fishing gear and more disagreement on stronger restrictions on species, time, and space use. Reduced variability was strongly associated with less perceived disparity in the benefits received by local versus government beneficiaries. These findings indicate potential conflicts between neighboring communities for most, but particularly the strongest, restrictions. Consequently, the broadscale management benefits of strong restrictions will need to address between-community compliance and justice procedures. Demographic variability requires coordinating governance and management to account for restriction-specific variability in the perceptions of management benefits.

Conservation needs exposed by variability in common‐pool governance principles

“…Heterogeneity of people, their perceptions, decisions, and the effectiveness of their governance systems was different between nations and likely to reflect some underlying aspects of human organization and economic development. We also identified governance principles with sufficient variability to reduce trust, provoke conflict, and weaken CPRM effectiveness, similar to conflicts exposed for fisheries restrictions (McClanahan & Abunge , ). Finally, the frequencies of interactions with noncommunity government bodies were very different among nations and increased as the nation's wealth increased (Supporting Information).…”

“…). Moreover, intercommunity differences in preferences for management options and subsequent conflicts are also common (McClanahan & Abunge , ). Finally, although nested governance was more common in wealthier countries, so was market integration.…”

“…In this region, efforts to do this without outside support are uncommon, frequently fail, and are likely to require power, information, expertise, and cost sharing. More sharing and procedural justice within and between communities may also help reduce the sense of unfairness that pervades East African fisheries (McClanahan & Abunge , ).…”

“…Consequently, these reef areas are priorities for protections intended to resolve local and international fisheries conflicts (Levin et al. ; McClanahan & Abunge ). The most sampling took place in southern Kenya, Northern Tanzania, and Pemba (Zanzibar) Island at the boundaries of these 3 nations.…”

“…These marine areas have been identified as having coral reefs with high diversity and potential for climate refugia (Ateweberhan & McClanahan 2016). Consequently, these reef areas are priorities for protections intended to resolve local and international fisheries conflicts (Levin et al 2018;McClanahan & Abunge 2018). The most sampling took place in southern Kenya, Northern Tanzania, and Pemba (Zanzibar) Island at the boundaries of these 3 nations.…”