Indigenous marine resource management on the Northwest Coast of North America

Abstract

There is increasing recognition among anthropologists that indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast actively managed their terrestrial and marine resources and ecosystems. Such management practices ensured the ongoing productivity of valued resources and were embedded in a complex web of socio-economic interactions. Using ethnographic and archaeological data, this paper synthesizes the ecological and cultural aspects of marine management systems of coastal First Nations. We divide our discussion into four aspects of traditional management systems: harvesting methods, enhancement strategies, tenure systems, and worldview and social relations. The ethnographic data, including memories of living knowledge holders, tend to provide windows into daily actions and the more intangible aspects of management; the archaeological record provides insights into the more tangible aspects and how management systems developed through time and space. This review demonstrates not only the breadth of Northwest Coast marine management but also the value of integrating different kinds of knowledge and data to more fully document the whole of these ancient management systems.

Sustainable Use and Management of Indigenous Plant Resources: A Case of Mantheding Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa

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Indigenous knowledge as data for modern fishery management: a case study of Dungeness crab in Pacific Canada

“…Indigenous marine management practices (hereafter "Indigenous management") are ubiquitous where people rely on marine resources, and vary in implementation and application to match local ecosystems and customs (Berkes 2012;Lepofsky and Caldwell 2013). Despite the diversity of Indigenous cultures globally, common Indigenous management approaches exist.…”

“…For instance, customary tenures delimit areas of the ocean where rights of extraction, management, and access are attributed to specific entities or people (e.g., a village, chief, or family), and these may involve temporary or permanent closures to harvesting (Aswani and Hamilton 2004;Jupiter et al 2014). Indigenous management may also limit harvesting to specific seasons and sizes of animals (Lepofsky and Caldwell 2013). These practices are commonly underpinned by worldviews that embed respect for other living beings and guide actions (e.g., take only what you need) (McClanahan et al 2006;Lepofsky and Caldwell 2013).…”

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