Limited open access in socioecological systems: How do communities deal with environmental unpredictability?

Abstract

Classical theory on the commons holds that rules are fundamental to sustainability. However, open access may be present in many sustainable socioecological systems. Here, we explore the interaction between environmental unpredictability and cooperation in a fishery in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. We show that a variable annual flood pulse combined with channel blockages results in a high turnover in fishing grounds. To counter this variability, fishers openly share information about fishing areas with all community members, but are highly territorial with neighboring communities. We argue that this open access within communities but common property between communities represents a system of limited open access and, using a mathematical model, suggest that such a system is favored under conditions of moderate competition and high levels of resource unpredictability. Failing to take into account the social norms that underpin limited open access systems may undermine conservation interventions.

Resilience of social-ecological systems: drastic seasonal change is associated with economic but not social flexibility among fishers in the Brazilian Pantanal

“…Therefore, between community members, there are no defined boundaries around the resources that they use, as predicted in open property regimes (Moritz et al 2018). We have previously argued that the openness and reciprocity that occurs within the Barra do São Lourenço community is the unpredictable availability of natural resources in the region explained above, which forces people to find cooperative ways to increase their chance of finding fish or bait (Chiaravalloti and Dyble 2019). However, neither information nor fishing grounds are shared with people from outside Barra do São Lourenço (Chiaravalloti 2017a).…”

“…Previous studies in the Pantanal have shown that the governance system of fishers from the Barra do São Lourenço community should be classified as a hybrid between open property and common property regimes, named "limited open access" (Chiaravalloti and Dyble 2019). In this system, fishers survive by sharing information about productive fishing or bait gathering locations.…”

“…For example, ethnographic research has recorded several knife fights with people from other communities trying to fish within Barra do São Lourenço territory (Chiaravalloti 2017a). Theoretical models suggested that limiting the sharing of information and territory to community members results from a compromise between the benefits of information sharing and the costs of competition (Chiaravalloti and Dyble 2019). Therefore, between communities, the system has features that are usually characteristic of a common property regime (Ostrom 1990).…”

Sustainability of social–ecological systems: The difference between social rules and management rules

“…For example, in many huntergatherer communities, the majority of hunting trips are unsuccessful, such that individuals rely on social rules that encourage the sharing of food among community members to maintain a regular supply of meat (Gurven, 2004). Similarly, among fishers in the Brazilian Pantanal, social rules facilitating the sharing of information about the location of productive fishing sites are essential for the viability of individual livelihoods (Chiaravalloti & Dyble, 2019). While such social rules facilitating cooperation may be advantageous, they are also vulnerable to "free-riders" who benefit from being part of a cooperative group without contributing to public goods.…”

“…While the recent research from Moritz et al (2018) and Chiaravalloti and Dyble (2019) describes socioecological systems that are different from classic property regimes and proposes possible driving conditions that may lead them to exist, there is no attempt understand the importance of rules controlling users' ability to extract/manage natural resources to be sustainable (management rules) and rules facilitating cooperation (social rules). This article aims to further explore these issues, articulate the difference between social and management rules, and explore how social and management rules may interact to produce different kinds of socioecological systems.…”