Managing the fishery commons at Marseille: How a medieval institution failed to accommodate change in an age of globalization

Abstract

This paper offers a socio‐historical study of the Prud'homie de pêche (the “Prud'homie”), a common‐pool institution (“CPI”) that has managed the fishery commons at Marseille since the Middle Ages. The evidence presented here sheds light on specific challenges faced by the Prud'homie during the early stages of globalization: one challenge is the import of a new fishing technique (the madrague) in the early 17th century, and another challenge is the arrival of migrant fishermen from Catalonia throughout the 18th century. On this basis, this paper explores the ways in which globalization has impacted the Prud'homie and identifies the mechanisms through which these challenges might threaten the functioning of CPIs.

How Migrations Affect Private Orders: Norms and Practices in the Fishery of Marseille

“…An exhaustive review of the fishing boats based in the port of Marseille between 1816 and 1818 provided evidence for the presence of 22 Catalan boats with 115 crew members (112 of whom were described as “Spanish”) (AA 13/P10/3 1819). These empirical data show that the Catalan fishers represented 14% or 16% of the entire community (depending on whether this proportion is calculated on the basis of the number of crew members or of boats) approximately hundred years after their first arrival (Grisel 2019).…”

“…Catalan fishers arrived in Marseille in successive streams of migration from the 1720s until the early nineteenth century (Faget 2011; Echinard and Temime 1989: 93; Grisel 2019). On the basis of archival documents, I assessed the size of this community of foreign fishers.…”

“…In Table 1 below, I have coded for the mode of interaction between incumbents and challengers (collaborative or adversarial) and the outcome of their interactions for each of the cases reported in the literature. A collaborative interaction is one where actors build a political coalition and combine resources within a field or across fields (Fligstein and McAdam 2012: 15;Grisel 2017). Competition unfolds when social actors vie for power and legitimacy in a winlose perspective (Fligstein and McAdam 2012: 14;Grisel 2017).…”

“…A collaborative interaction is one where actors build a political coalition and combine resources within a field or across fields (Fligstein and McAdam 2012: 15;Grisel 2017). Competition unfolds when social actors vie for power and legitimacy in a winlose perspective (Fligstein and McAdam 2012: 14;Grisel 2017). The various outcomes reported in the literature can be categorized as follows: assimilation, collaboration, visibility, polarization, and rejection.…”

“…For instance, they used smaller hooks than what was allowed by the Prud'homie , resulting in the capture of smaller species and younger fish (thus impacting the fishing stocks more aggressively). They also used their palangres further offshore, which was made possible by their more sophisticated boats (Faget 2011: 45–48; Grisel 2019). The Prud'homie was outraged by these fishing practices, particularly since the Catalan fishers were successfully competing with the local fishers by landing more sizable catches.…”