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The Fortune of the Commons: Participatory Evaluation of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Brazilian Amazon

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Abstract

This paper applies a participatory approach in evaluating small-scale fisheries, focusing on the Arapaima gigas fishery in the Brazilian Amazon. The evaluation uses the social-ecological system (SES) framework, adopted to explain the conditions needed for sustainability and user cooperation in natural resources management, as a more suitable alternative to the ‘blueprint’ or ‘panaceas’ approaches, based only on property rights or governmental intervention. However, managers and users often do not have the necessary information compiled and available for a specific SES while some actions need to be taken immediately. Thus, consensus and negotiation among stakeholders about SES variables may be useful to evaluate system performance and indicate actions to promote sustainability. In the case study, using a consensus-building model, we found that arapaima SES leads to sustainability and is far from being a case of ‘tragedy of the commons.’ More investments in suitable monitoring and enforcement for adaptive management are recommended. Adopting an SES framework based on stakeholders’ prospects may be useful until complete interdisciplinary studies become available so as to seek of sustainability in the long term.

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Acknowledgments

This article was sponsored by SKY Rainforest Rescue (WWF-UK), and is based on a research program supported by Center for Sustainable Development (CDS) at the University of Brasília. We thank the Feijó Fisher’s Union, Manuel Urbano Arapaima Fishers Association, Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM). We thank Mauro Armelin, Evandro Camara, Edvilson Gomes, Carlos Leopoldo, Jose Augusto Drummond for comments on a previous version of this article, and Joseph Weiss for revising the final version. The two anonymous reviewers provided valuable constructive comments. We would also like to thank the fishers: Charles Santos, Antonio Soares, Geraldo Almeira, Paulo Almeida, Francisco dos Santos, José de Souza, Vanderlei Nascimento, Francisco G. da Silva, Antonio I. da Silva, Pedro Gadelha, Raimundo N. de Souza, Francisco J. Silva, Carlos Gadelha, Antonio Souza, and Francisco C. Moura for their contribution with data collection and evaluation.

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  1. Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    Antonio F. P. Oviedo & Marcel Bursztyn

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Correspondence to Antonio F. P. Oviedo.

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Oviedo, A.F.P., Bursztyn, M. The Fortune of the Commons: Participatory Evaluation of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Brazilian Amazon. Environmental Management 57, 1009–1023 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0660-z

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