Indigenous Distribution and Management of Marine Resources

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From 2003 to 2006, we carried out a program of field research focused on indigenous distribution and management of marine resources in the Circum-Pacific and Arctic regions. Our research results can be summarized in the following three points. (1) Generally, a great commercial demand for a given marine resource tends to lead to its over-harvesting. In particular, specialized marine products such as trepang, shark-fin, etc are possibly depleted by local harvesters under the following conditions: (a) international market demand for the resource, (b) development of information and transportation means connected to it, (c) participations of brokers or intermediary distributors with a keen eye for market trends, (d) the absence of legal harvest regulations, (e) efficient harvesting technologies, and/or (f) low-value or under-utilization of the resource in a given local society. (2) The consuming and sharing of locally produced "real food" such as salmon, beluga whale, caribou, etc. is socio-culturally important for indigenous people because these practices contribute to reproducing social identity and relationships in the community. Still, a great demand for a locally important marine resource may result in resource depletion due to increased population pressure, development of efficient harvesting and transportation means, and/or change in a world view such as loss of fear of or respect for traditional belief in animal souls. Thus, indigenous use of a resource does not always assure its sustainable use. (3)To establish an effective management system of marine resources, we should devise a management system for sustainable resource use in such a way that economic stability of its local producers is assured. Also, the distribution system of a given resource should be taken into account in the system construction.