221
12 Marine Protected Areas in the Canary Islands – Improving Their Governability
The range and type of possible co-management systems may vary substantially in
Spain and around the world, but many cofradías can, in practice, be regarded as
horizontal co-management models (Symes et al. 2003 ) . The cofradías (or “guilds”)
of fi shers are local, non-pro fi t corporations with public rights and exclusive territories (Alegret 1996 ) . They represent the interests of the whole fi shing sector by acting “as consultative and cooperative bodies for the administration, undertaking
economic, administrative and commercial management tasks”, and with the ability
to “cooperate in matters of regulating access to the resources and informing over
infractions occurring in their territory” (Pascual Fernández 1999 , 71). In nineteenthcentury Spain, and probably throughout Europe, these local arrangements were
eroded systematically by the State, as they constituted a hindrance to the capitalist
development of fi sheries in the context of rising liberalism. For decades, these processes were driven by large state subsidies to industrial fi sheries and, to a certain
extent, by con fi dence in the inexhaustible condition of the oceans. Another important factor was the belief in the capacity of science to manage and predict the future
states of marine species, as exempli fi ed by the many models of single species
recruitment used extensively in traditional fi sheries management. All these elements
had one thing in common: the disregard for local institutions, traditions and knowledge. As a consequence, local, community-based institutional arrangements were
marginalized by the State. Instead, the top-down management of natural and marine
resources, supported by the scienti fi c models of fi sheries biology, acquired an
increasingly important role. Accordingly, the increased capacity of industrial fl eets
in Europe and in other areas of the world has driven a number of stocks to extinction, as well as deeply modifying coastal and marine ecosystems to the point where
some predictions anticipate a jelly fi sh future for the world’s oceans (Pauly et al.
1998 ; Pauly and Watson 2003 ) . MPAs are one of the leading measures devised to
prevent this scenario.
The literature contains a number of different de fi nitions of MPAs. Perhaps the
most cited is the one proposed by the 4th World Wilderness Congress in 1987. It
refers to the MPA as, “ an area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its
overlying water and associated fl ora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which
has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the
enclosed environment ” (Kelleher and Kenchington 1992 , 44). In the United States
of America, MPAs are legislated with some emphasis on the relevance of cultural
issues and are de fi ned as, “ any area of the marine environment that has been reserved
by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting
protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein ”.
2 Following
the recommendation of the Committee on the Evaluation, Design and Monitoring of
Marine Reserves and Protected Areas in the United States (National Research
Council), protected areas can be classi fi ed into four categories with increasing
levels of protection: Marine Protected Area, Marine Reserve, Fishery Reserve and
2 Presidential Documents, Executive Order 13158 of May 26, 2000. Retrieved January 27, 2012
from http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/eos/eo13158.html
12 Marine Protected Areas in the Canary Islands – Improving Their Governability
The range and type of possible co-management systems may vary substantially in
Spain and around the world, but many cofradías can, in practice, be regarded as
horizontal co-management models (Symes et al. 2003 ) . The cofradías (or “guilds”)
of fi shers are local, non-pro fi t corporations with public rights and exclusive territories (Alegret 1996 ) . They represent the interests of the whole fi shing sector by acting “as consultative and cooperative bodies for the administration, undertaking
economic, administrative and commercial management tasks”, and with the ability
to “cooperate in matters of regulating access to the resources and informing over
infractions occurring in their territory” (Pascual Fernández 1999 , 71). In nineteenthcentury Spain, and probably throughout Europe, these local arrangements were
eroded systematically by the State, as they constituted a hindrance to the capitalist
development of fi sheries in the context of rising liberalism. For decades, these processes were driven by large state subsidies to industrial fi sheries and, to a certain
extent, by con fi dence in the inexhaustible condition of the oceans. Another important factor was the belief in the capacity of science to manage and predict the future
states of marine species, as exempli fi ed by the many models of single species
recruitment used extensively in traditional fi sheries management. All these elements
had one thing in common: the disregard for local institutions, traditions and knowledge. As a consequence, local, community-based institutional arrangements were
marginalized by the State. Instead, the top-down management of natural and marine
resources, supported by the scienti fi c models of fi sheries biology, acquired an
increasingly important role. Accordingly, the increased capacity of industrial fl eets
in Europe and in other areas of the world has driven a number of stocks to extinction, as well as deeply modifying coastal and marine ecosystems to the point where
some predictions anticipate a jelly fi sh future for the world’s oceans (Pauly et al.
1998 ; Pauly and Watson 2003 ) . MPAs are one of the leading measures devised to
prevent this scenario.
The literature contains a number of different de fi nitions of MPAs. Perhaps the
most cited is the one proposed by the 4th World Wilderness Congress in 1987. It
refers to the MPA as, “ an area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its
overlying water and associated fl ora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which
has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the
enclosed environment ” (Kelleher and Kenchington 1992 , 44). In the United States
of America, MPAs are legislated with some emphasis on the relevance of cultural
issues and are de fi ned as, “ any area of the marine environment that has been reserved
by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting
protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein ”.
2 Following
the recommendation of the Committee on the Evaluation, Design and Monitoring of
Marine Reserves and Protected Areas in the United States (National Research
Council), protected areas can be classi fi ed into four categories with increasing
levels of protection: Marine Protected Area, Marine Reserve, Fishery Reserve and
2 Presidential Documents, Executive Order 13158 of May 26, 2000. Retrieved January 27, 2012
from http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/eos/eo13158.html