Abstract
The project to exterminate nonindigenous fish was initiated in Lake Biwa in April 2002 because nonindigenous fish, especially large-mouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), had adversely affected the diversity of indigenous fish. This project allowed fishers to catch nonindigenous fish whenever, wherever, and however they wished and to sell their entire daily landing to the Shiga Prefectural Government (SPG) on a fixed-price basis. That is, the SPG regarded nonindigenous fish as an "open-access resource." This project defined success as the extermination of nonindigenous fish. This study focused on how the fishers behaved after the project began and attempted to identify the factors influencing their behavior. I observed that the ranks of fishers increased because of the policies pertaining to nonindigenous fish. At one level, this result supports the model of "the tragedy of open-access resources." However, this study also found that the behavior of fishers did not always result in "tragedy." In Okishima, fishers' behavior is strongly influenced by merchants. More specifically, fishers must abide by their contracts with merchants, and these effectively prevent them from catching nonindigenous fish even when these appear to bring greater profits. This local mechanism served to limit excessive levels of fishing and impeded "the tragedy of open-access resources." Consequently, the results of this project did not meet the expectations of the SPG.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott, J. G., Campbell, L. M., Hay, C. J., Næsje, T. F., and Purvis, J. (2007). Market-resource Links and Fish Vendor Livelihoods in the Upper Zambezi River Floodplains. Human Ecology 35: 559–574.
Acheson, J. M. (1998). Lobster Trap Limits: A Solution to a Communal Action Problem. Human Organization 57(1): 43–52.
Acheson, J. M., and Wilson, J. A. (1996). Order Out of Chaos: The Case for Parametric Management. American Anthropologist 98(3): 579–594.
Akimichi, T., and Ruddle, K. (1984). The Historical Development of Territorial Rights and Fishery Regulations in Okinawan Inshore Waters. Senri Ethnological Studies 17: 89–120.
Anderson, E. (1994). Fish as gods and kin. In Dyer, C., and McGoodwin, J. R. (eds.), Folk Management in the World’s Fisheries. University of Colorado Press, Niwot, pp. 139–160.
Aswani, S. (1999). Common Property Models of Sea Tenure: A Case Study From the Roviana and Vonavona Lagoons, New Georgia, Solomon Islands. Human Ecology 27(3): 417–453.
Beckerman, S. (1983). Optimal Foraging Group Size for a Human Population: The Case of Bari Fishing. American Zoologist 23: 283–290.
Béné, C. (2003). When Fishery Rhymes with Poverty: A First Step Beyond the Old Paradigm of Poverty in Small-Scale Fisheries. World Development 31: 6949–975.
Béné, C., and Tewfik, A. (2001). Fishing Effort Allocation and Fishers’ Decision-Making Process in a Multi-Species Small-Scale Fishery: Analysis of the Conch and Lobster Fishery in Turks and Caicos Islands. Human Ecology 29(2): 157–186.
Berkes, F. (1985). The Common Property Resource Problem and the Creation of Limited Property Rights. Human Ecology 13(2): 187–208.
Berkes, F., Mahon, R., McConney, P., Pollnac, R., and Pomeroy, R. (2001). Managing Small-scale Fisheries: Alternative Directions and Methods. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, p. 320.
Durrenberger, E. P. (1997). Fisheries Management Models: Assumptions and Realities or Why Shrimpers in Mississippi are not Firms. Human Organization 56(2): 158–166.
Feeny, D., Berkes, F., McCay, B. L., and Acheson, J. M. (1990). The Tragedy of the Commons: Twenty-Two Years Later. Human Ecology 18(1): 1–19.
Gairaigyo eikyo kenkyu-kai. (Ed.). (2003). The measure and example of nonindigenous fish in the river (in Japanese). River Front Center.
Guest, G. (2003). Fishing Behavior and Decision-Making in an Ecuadorian Community: a Scaled Approach. Human Ecology 31: 611–644.
Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science 162: 1243–1248.
Iida, T. (1998). Competition and Communal Regulations in the Kombu Kelp (Laminaria angustata) Harvest. Human Ecology 26(3): 405–423.
Ikeda, K. (2005). The black bass tumult (in Japanese). Tsuribitosha.
Jentoft, S. (2000). The Community: A Missing Link of Fisheries Management. Marine Policy 24: 53–59.
Kaneda, Y. (2005). Fisheries and Fishing Methods of Japan (in Japanese). Seizando.
Kankyo sho (Ed.) (2006). The influence and measure of blackbass and bluegill (in Japanese). Natural Environment Reserch Center.
Kawanabe, H. (1996). An illustrated book of Japanese freshwater fish (in Japanese). Hoikusha.
Kinki-nousei-kyoku. (2006). Agriculture, forestry and fisheries of Shiga (in Japanese).
Maehata, M. (1993). The Trend of Fish Species in Front of Biwako Museum (in Japanese). The Bulletin of the Biwako Museum 9: 43–49.
Matthews, D. R. (1993). Controlling Common Property: Regulating Canada’s East Coast Fishery. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
Maurstad, A. (2000). To Fish or Not to Fish: Small-scale Fishing and Changing Regulations of the Cod Fishery in Northern Norway. Human Organization 59(1): 48–57.
McCay, B. J. (1981). Optimal Foragers or Political Actors? Ecological Analyses of a New Jersey Fishery. American Zoologist 8: 356–381.
McCay, B. J., and Acheson, J. M. (1987). Human ecology of the commons. In McCay, B. J., and Acheson, J. M. (eds.), The Question of the Commons: The Culture and Ecology of Communal Resources. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 1–36.
Mizuno, T. (2004). Impact evaluation of black bass in Lake Biwa (in Japanese). WWF Japan.
Naisuimen gairaigyo kanri iinkai (Ed.), (2002). Extermination examples of nonindigenous fish (in Japanese). Fishing cooperative association of Japan.
Nakai, K. (1999). Blackbass fishing and the crisis of a freshwataer ecosystem of Japan (in Japanese). In Mori, S. (ed.), Conservation Ecology of Freshwater Fish. Shinsansha 154–168.
Nihon suisan gakkai (ed.). (1994). Current fisheries (in Japanese). Koushinsha-kouseikaku.
Opaluch, J. J., and Bockstael, N. E. (1984). Behavioral Modeling and Fisheries Management. Marine Resource Economics 1(1): 105–115.
Ruddle, K. (1989). Solving the common-property dilemma: Village fisheries rights in Japanese coastal waters. In Berkes, F. (ed.), Common Property Resource: Ecology and Community-Based Sustainable Development. Belhaven, London.
Shiga-ken gyogyou-kyodou kumiai. (Ed.) (2006). Fish landing of Shiga Prefecture (in Japanese).
Shiga-ken soumu-bu. (2004). The evaluation in 2003, and the target in 2004 (in Japanese). Shiga Prefecture.
Shiga-ken Suisan-shikenjo. (1989). The report on large-mouth bass in 1985–1988 (in Japanese). Research Report of the Fisheries Experimental Station.
Shiga Prefectural Government. (1965). Fishery Law of Lake Biwa (in Japanese). Shiga Prefecture.
Stoffle, B. W., Halmo, D. B., Stoffle, R. W., and Burpee, C. G. (1994). Folk management and conservation ethics among small-scale fishers of Buen Hombre, Dominican Republic. In Dyer, C., and McGoodwin, J. (eds.), Folk Management in the World’s Fisheries: Lessons from Modern Fisheries. University of Colorado Press, Niwot, pp. 115–138.
Toda, N. (2002). I am fisher in Lake Biwa (in Japanese), kobunsha-shinsho.
Uda, S. (2005). Incorporating “The Logic of Subsistence” into a Method of Renaturalization: Fishers’ Involvement in the Lake Biwa Nonindigenous Fish Eradication Project (in Japanese). Journal of Environmental Sociology 11: 202–218.
Vignaux, M. (1996). Analysis of Vessel Movements and Strategies Using Commercial Catch and Effort Data from the NewZealand Hoki Fishery. Canadian Journal Fisheries Aquatic Sciences 53: 2126–2136.
Washitani, I., and Kusakari, H. (Eds.) (2003). Natural regeneration (in Japanese).Tukijishokan.
Acknowledgements
My deepest gratitude goes to the fishers of Okishima for their hospitality and unwavering patience. This research has been supported by JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad (712) and The Sumitomo Foundation (073092).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
UDA, S. The Behavior of Fishers After Implementation of the Project to Exterminate Nonindigenous Fish in Lake Biwa, Japan. Hum Ecol 38, 237–249 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9311-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9311-9