spiritual practices. In Torres Strait, these keystone species
have been important in creating links and understanding
between TEK and SMK. The success of these is because
of their cross-cultural values for the islanders and government conservation directives for the species. Another
spin-off from the arrangement includes the establishment
of a ranger program allowing community-based management of invertebrate species such as trochus and beche
de la mer. Some estuarine cultural keystone species are
large and iconic marine species, which have extensive
ranges into coastal waters and provide ecosystem services
and benefit from national as well as international beneficiaries. This has resulted in cross-scale partnerships
between multiple indigenous communities and state and
national government agencies. In broadening the
approach from small-scale management to larger areas,
several studies have reported successes in conservation
and restoration by recognizing and focusing on cultural
keystone species.
Traditional fisheries management
In many parts of the world, estuarine systems are threatened; anthropogenic changes have caused changes to estuarine habitats and their ecology. Furthermore,
demographic changes, social political pressures, urbanization, education, commercialization, and technological
advances have led to changed perceptions about the value
of marine resources. Traditional community-based fisheries are usually small scale. Fishing is an integral part of
many estuarine communities with immense cultural significance including beliefs about their origins and traditions. Ruddle (1993) provided numerous examples of
traditional management from the Asia-Pacific region,
including examples which he regarded as unsuccessful
and those that were successful. He suggested several ways
forward, favoring the use of legislation to reinforce but
specify the power of traditional rights. In South Asia,
one community-based traditional management system is
Padu, which is based on caste and gender, a managed
prawn or shrimp fishery in local lagoons where fishermen
catch shrimp as they migrate from the estuary back to the
sea. In recognizing the pressures exerted on management
systems, previously unlicensed fishers from Kerala,
Southern India, challenged the decision to prevent them
from fishing in traditional areas and in the municipal
courts gained official access to the fishery. The groups
were well organized and charged with facilitating equitable access, providing social responsibility and providing
mechanisms for rule making and resolving conflicts
(Lobe and Berkes, 2004). More recently, Coulthard
(2011) analyzed the Padu system in the Pulicat lagoon,
India, where there are more than 30,000 artisan fishers.
Here she describes the system as being in a fragile state
due to poverty and reduced income because of widely
fluctuating catches. Still the fishers remain loyal to the
Padu system which provides political power, social standing, and prestige. This system is quite different to the
systems used by larger commercial fisheries which run
alongside the traditional fisheries usually with sciencebased stock assessments for individual species. They use
fishery-specific tools (not discussed here) such as licensing, temporal closures, gear restrictions, and size limits.
In the future it seems likely that such intervention measures will need to be included in traditional fisheries so
that they can be of benefit to future generations.
Natural resource management
For centuries the Polynesians, who inhabited Hawaii, used
a management system “ahupua’a,” an integrated watershed management system between freshwater and the
nearby marine coastal environment, based on ecosystem
linkages between the mountains and the sea (Jokiel
et al., 2011). This concept gained prominence in New
Zealand, where centuries of observation and the continued
practice of gathering mahinga kai and kaimoana, Ngāi
Tahu whāui have built a unique body of experience and
knowledge which is important for understanding the environment and maintaining its health and well-being.
Mauri, which is an important part of Māori culture, is the
energy or life force which is sacred and a spiritual link
to the past the present and the future. Pauling (2003)
developed cultural tools for mountains to the sea natural
resource monitoring, including evaluating mahinga kai
(food) and resources. The state of the Takiwā assessments,
Te Āhuatanga o te Ihutai, was undertaken to establish the
cultural health of the Avon-Heathcote Ihutai Estuary,
a small estuary near Christchurch, in the South Island of
New Zealand, where modifications of the estuary and the
previous release of human waste made the estuary unsafe
and culturally unacceptable for gathering kai moana. Surveys were undertaken to provide an assessment of the current health and provide ideas about how future
management might improve the cultural health of the
catchment. Cultural health scores were based on the status
of the site, suitability to harvest mahinga kai, physical and
legal access, site pressure, degree of modification, and the
identification of valued and pest species. These were used
with other assessment tools, stream health monitoring,
bacterial water quality, and electric fishing. In 2007, when
the first assessments were made, the cultural values of the
catchment were poor and these did not improve in the
2012 assessment (Lang et al., 2012). Improvement had
been expected because of the removal of treated waste
effluent from the estuary. Unfortunately, a series of large
earthquakes damaged the infrastructure. Raw sewage
was released into the rivers and estuary; in addition, sediments were disturbed. These events most likely explain
the lack of improvement in cultural health of the habitat.
Cooperative management or co-management
In an early review, Sen and Neilsen (1996) described fisheries co-management as an arrangement where responsibility for resource management is shared between the
government and user groups. It is an element of
166
CULTURAL SEAFOOD MANAGEMENT
have been important in creating links and understanding
between TEK and SMK. The success of these is because
of their cross-cultural values for the islanders and government conservation directives for the species. Another
spin-off from the arrangement includes the establishment
of a ranger program allowing community-based management of invertebrate species such as trochus and beche
de la mer. Some estuarine cultural keystone species are
large and iconic marine species, which have extensive
ranges into coastal waters and provide ecosystem services
and benefit from national as well as international beneficiaries. This has resulted in cross-scale partnerships
between multiple indigenous communities and state and
national government agencies. In broadening the
approach from small-scale management to larger areas,
several studies have reported successes in conservation
and restoration by recognizing and focusing on cultural
keystone species.
Traditional fisheries management
In many parts of the world, estuarine systems are threatened; anthropogenic changes have caused changes to estuarine habitats and their ecology. Furthermore,
demographic changes, social political pressures, urbanization, education, commercialization, and technological
advances have led to changed perceptions about the value
of marine resources. Traditional community-based fisheries are usually small scale. Fishing is an integral part of
many estuarine communities with immense cultural significance including beliefs about their origins and traditions. Ruddle (1993) provided numerous examples of
traditional management from the Asia-Pacific region,
including examples which he regarded as unsuccessful
and those that were successful. He suggested several ways
forward, favoring the use of legislation to reinforce but
specify the power of traditional rights. In South Asia,
one community-based traditional management system is
Padu, which is based on caste and gender, a managed
prawn or shrimp fishery in local lagoons where fishermen
catch shrimp as they migrate from the estuary back to the
sea. In recognizing the pressures exerted on management
systems, previously unlicensed fishers from Kerala,
Southern India, challenged the decision to prevent them
from fishing in traditional areas and in the municipal
courts gained official access to the fishery. The groups
were well organized and charged with facilitating equitable access, providing social responsibility and providing
mechanisms for rule making and resolving conflicts
(Lobe and Berkes, 2004). More recently, Coulthard
(2011) analyzed the Padu system in the Pulicat lagoon,
India, where there are more than 30,000 artisan fishers.
Here she describes the system as being in a fragile state
due to poverty and reduced income because of widely
fluctuating catches. Still the fishers remain loyal to the
Padu system which provides political power, social standing, and prestige. This system is quite different to the
systems used by larger commercial fisheries which run
alongside the traditional fisheries usually with sciencebased stock assessments for individual species. They use
fishery-specific tools (not discussed here) such as licensing, temporal closures, gear restrictions, and size limits.
In the future it seems likely that such intervention measures will need to be included in traditional fisheries so
that they can be of benefit to future generations.
Natural resource management
For centuries the Polynesians, who inhabited Hawaii, used
a management system “ahupua’a,” an integrated watershed management system between freshwater and the
nearby marine coastal environment, based on ecosystem
linkages between the mountains and the sea (Jokiel
et al., 2011). This concept gained prominence in New
Zealand, where centuries of observation and the continued
practice of gathering mahinga kai and kaimoana, Ngāi
Tahu whāui have built a unique body of experience and
knowledge which is important for understanding the environment and maintaining its health and well-being.
Mauri, which is an important part of Māori culture, is the
energy or life force which is sacred and a spiritual link
to the past the present and the future. Pauling (2003)
developed cultural tools for mountains to the sea natural
resource monitoring, including evaluating mahinga kai
(food) and resources. The state of the Takiwā assessments,
Te Āhuatanga o te Ihutai, was undertaken to establish the
cultural health of the Avon-Heathcote Ihutai Estuary,
a small estuary near Christchurch, in the South Island of
New Zealand, where modifications of the estuary and the
previous release of human waste made the estuary unsafe
and culturally unacceptable for gathering kai moana. Surveys were undertaken to provide an assessment of the current health and provide ideas about how future
management might improve the cultural health of the
catchment. Cultural health scores were based on the status
of the site, suitability to harvest mahinga kai, physical and
legal access, site pressure, degree of modification, and the
identification of valued and pest species. These were used
with other assessment tools, stream health monitoring,
bacterial water quality, and electric fishing. In 2007, when
the first assessments were made, the cultural values of the
catchment were poor and these did not improve in the
2012 assessment (Lang et al., 2012). Improvement had
been expected because of the removal of treated waste
effluent from the estuary. Unfortunately, a series of large
earthquakes damaged the infrastructure. Raw sewage
was released into the rivers and estuary; in addition, sediments were disturbed. These events most likely explain
the lack of improvement in cultural health of the habitat.
Cooperative management or co-management
In an early review, Sen and Neilsen (1996) described fisheries co-management as an arrangement where responsibility for resource management is shared between the
government and user groups. It is an element of
166
CULTURAL SEAFOOD MANAGEMENT