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Erosion of Traditional Marine Management Systems in the Face of Disturbances in the Nicobar Archipelago

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Abstract

To sustainably manage naturally scarce resources, island communities often evolve complex mechanisms including customary laws, belief systems, and reciprocity arrangements among others, to prevent overharvest. Their effectiveness depends largely on the extent to which resource users comply with the rules. We examined patterns of compliance with traditional marine management in the Nicobar Archipelago, India, before, and six years after, the 2004 tsunami. We used interview-based surveys to document marine harvest regulations, and changes in compliance patterns. Our results indicate that pre-tsunami, complex harvest rules existed, including spatio-temporal closures, gear restrictions and species bans; many reefs were subject to multiple, overlapping restrictions. Post-tsunami, compliance weakened considerably; younger individuals (19–35 years) and individuals receiving tsunami aid (boats, gear, etc.) were the most likely non-compliers. Around 84 % of interviewees attributed declining compliance directly to post-tsunami changes in resource availability and a perceived decline in traditional authority. Changes in resource availability can interact strongly with institutional decline, eroding the resilience of traditional management.

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Notes

  1. Here we define “Institutions” as the conventions, norms and legal rules of society that facilitate coordination among people regarding their behaviour (after Bromley 1989; Ostrom 1990; Vatn 2005)

  2. Resilience is the ability of a system to maintain key functions and processes in the face of stresses or pressures (social, political, ecological or economic) by either resisting to or adapting to change (Holling et al. 1998; Adger 2000; Nyström and Folke 2001).

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Acknowledgments

The Department of Environment and Forests, Port Blair and the A & N Administration provided permits to carry out research. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Environmental Team (ANET), Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Madurai Kamaraj Univeristy (MKU) and Reef Watch Marine Conservation (RWMC) also provided crucial support. A.K. Kumaraguru and M. Chandi gave inputs while designing field surveys. N. Kelkar and Jordi Pagès helped in statistical analysis. Martin, Emanuel and Youriel helped in data collection. We thank V. Ramanujan and two anonymous reviewers for suggesting changes, which improved the quality of the manuscript.

Ethical Standards

Our research entailed work with human communities adhering to all standard ethical norms. Nicobarese are a Scheduled Tribe of India, and entry into the islands is regulated by the ‘Andaman & Nicobar Islands Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation 1956’. We obtained the requisite ‘Tribal Area Entry Permits’ to land and conduct research from the Department of Tribal Welfare and District Commissioner’s office at Port Blair and Kamorta for all seven visits to the Nicobar archipelago. During each visit, we also obtained the permission to conduct research from the Chief Captain of the village and Chairperson of the Tribal Council of the area.

We obtained all requisite clearances from the Nature Conservation Foundation’s Institutional ethical committee as well as from members of the doctoral research committee prior to conducting fieldwork. We conducted interviews after arranging a suitable time suggested by each respondent. Before we began each interview, we read out the ethical statement and ensured that the personal responses of the interviewee will be kept confidential. We collected personal information only for the purpose of records and analysis. All interviews were voluntary and participants were given the option to remove their responses from the study at anytime. A written consent was not obtained due to low literacy levels amongst Nicobarese.

We gave regular updates about our work and the progress we made and we did not share the raw data with either respondents or any other agencies/institutions.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oceans and Coasts Programme, Nature Conservation Foundation, 3076/5, 4th Cross, Gokulam Park, Mysore, 570002, India

    Vardhan Patankar, Elrika D’Souza, Teresa Alcoverro & Rohan Arthur

  2. Centre for Wildlife Studies, 1669, 31st Cross, 16th Main, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560 070, India

    Vardhan Patankar

  3. National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, 560 065, India

    Vardhan Patankar

  4. Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CSIC), C. Acc. Cala St. Francesc, 17300 Blanes, Girona, Spain

    Teresa Alcoverro

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  1. Vardhan Patankar
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Correspondence to Vardhan Patankar.

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Patankar, V., D’Souza, E., Alcoverro, T. et al. Erosion of Traditional Marine Management Systems in the Face of Disturbances in the Nicobar Archipelago. Hum Ecol 43, 697–707 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-015-9781-x

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