Sustainability Analysis of the Benthic Fisheries Managed in the TURF System in Chile

Abstract

Territorial use rights in fisheries (TURF) are considered to aid to the sustainability of smallscale fisheries, because they remove the perverse incentives, which sustain the tragedy of the commons. Nevertheless, a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of TURFs is lacking. Chile offers a unique opportunity, because an extensive system for benthic fisheries has been implemented, with at present hundreds of TURFs along the coast. This study analyzes the sustainability of all the TURFs (109) along a stretch of 800 Km of coast, using population, productive, economic, social and institutional indicators. The information was obtained from the technical reports and monitoring each TURF has to prepare for the authority each year, databases the authority has and interviews with artisanal fishermen. Three states of TURFs were identified: unsustainable, poorly sustainable and sustainable. The resources exploited in the analyzed TURFs are the chilean abalon or "loco" (Concholepas concholepas), the key hole limpets "lapa negra" (Fissurella latimarginata), and "lapa rosada" (Fissurella cumingi), the kelps "huiro negro" (Lessonia berteroana), and "huiro palo" (Lessonia trabeculata), the surf clam "Macha" (Mesodesma donacium), the scallop "ostión del norte" (Argopecten purpuratus) and the seaurchin "erizo rojo" (Loxechinus albus). Results show general low performance for population, production and economic indicators, but good performance for social and institutional indicators. Overall the system shows a poor sustainability, which principally means unstable populations, landings and income in most of the TURFs. This result, which differs from most published analyses of the system, is explained mainly by the impossibility to reach a stable fishery through management of so small areas, given the natural variability of the species and the general environment. The good performance of some TURFs cannot be explained by a single factor, which is consistent with the complexity of the system, which makes it little amenable for proper management.

Assessment of Exploitation Intensity of Commercial Species and Associated Benthic Communities, in Chilean Marine Management Areas of North Patagonia

“…This monitoring should include integral spatial management since all commercial species considered in MAs management plans have long dispersive larval stages hence settlement, recruitment and growth are processes that probably greatly exceed the boundaries of MAs (Romero et al, 2019). In short, the productivity of one area is dependent on processes and management in other OAAs and MAs (Molinet et al, 2010;Arias and Stotz, 2020). It should be highlighted that our results are the first attempt to evaluate MAs' performance in comparison with OAAs regime on a regional scale with a community approach in Aysén (43.9 • -45.2 • S).…”

“…Positive effects were also reported in the associated macroinvertebrate communities where higher species richness, biomass and densities were observed within MAs compared to OAAs (Gelcich et al, 2008, 2012, Biggs et al, 2016. In contrast, performances of MAs in northern Chile were classified as poorly sustainable, with few stocks showing stability in densities, sizes, and catches over time (Arias and Stotz, 2020). Moreover, to maintain productivity, studies showed that at least half of the catch was extracted from areas outside MAs (Gonzalez et al, 2006).…”

Integrating human and ecological dimensions: The importance of stakeholders’ perceptions and participation on the performance of fisheries co-management in Chile

“…Their low profits are also affected by poaching (whether by outsiders, non-unionized fishers, or even by members). Poaching is one of the main factors influencing the scarcity of the target resource and one of the most critical problem perceived by fishers [ 77 , 79 , 81 , 106 , 127 , 128 ]. Thus, ignoring illegal activity outcomes in false conclusions (over- and under-representation) about the state and trends of fisheries; it also adds to the increased costs associated with surveillance and reduced income for fishers [ 78 ].…”

“…Management of the MEABRs is complex and fishers’ responses can have unforeseen consequences leading to failure. As stated earlier, many examples of the MEABR system are being applied with no consideration of the socio-ecological systems upon which they were implemented [ 59 , 61 , 65 , 79 ]. The lessons learned with the MEABR system in Chile could be helpful for the TURF system worldwide.…”

Toward understanding the long-term persistence of a local governance system among artisanal fishers in Chile

“…This tendency has been also reported in Chile, where most of the surf clam AMERBs have historically failed at some point Stotz 2013, Aburto et al 2014) and where the Peñuelas A is an exception among the attempts to manage the resource under the AMERB regime. In this study, fishers identified factors based on their own experiences and knowledge that we classified as biophysical conditions of Coquimbo Bay, that seem to favor the presence of a relatively reliable stock, making this AMERB sustainable over time, unlike the other sandy beaches of the CBS or other beaches along the surf clam distribution range (Thiel et al 2007, Aburto et al 2014 or even compared with the rocky shore AMERB where 98% (n = 61) of the AMERBs in Coquimbo Region were considered unsustainable (70%) or poorly sustainable (28%) based on their productivity (Arias and Stotz 2020). In the case of the Peñuelas A, the interactions between institutions and the ecological attributes of this SES contribute to success of this fishery (Epstein et al 2015).…”