From Seascapes of Extinction to Seascapes of Confidence
"An important contribution to our understanding of the multifaceted challenges underlying sustainable solutions to ecological fisheries, the book describes how, in Chile, indiscriminate harvest of the edible shellfish Concholepas concholepas (false abalone or Loco), has been threatening not only the living of small-scale artisan fishers but also the ecosystem. In an attempt to strengthen the fishers' livelihoods and at the same time recuperate the fish, the Chilean government introduced the regulatory measure: Management and Exploitation Areas for Benthic Resources (MEABRs), locally known as Management Areas (MAs) and internationally as Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries (TURFs). The author uses a participatory approach to this interdisciplinary issue, examining how the MAs have impacted on two fishing organizations and localities that depend for their survival on benthic resources: El Quisco (Valparaíso Region) and Puerto Oscuro (Coquimbo Region). Placed in the larger context of the critical situation of fisheries in the world, the book not only offers an example to other communities but also an insight into the complex ways politics links to economics, the local links to the regional and the global, and nature to society."--Publisher's description