|
Previous
Next
|
| Common Property Resource Management and Cree Indian Fisheries in Subarctic Canada |
|
Reference |
| Berkes, Fikret :" Common Property Resource Management and Cree Indian Fisheries in Subarctic Canada" in The Question of Commons: The University of Arizona Press, Tucson |
|
Introduction to the Institution |
| The eastern James Bay Cree are organized into eight bands including Chisasibi and its northern neighbour ,Great Whale and Southern neighbour, Wemindji.In Chisasibi there are two broad social groups: Inlanders and coasters the families who traditionally hunts in the interior and along the James Bay coast respectively.Within the band hunting group consists of several nuclear families,usually 10 to 20 people |
|
Rules for Management
of the Institution |
|
(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spatial:The Cree Indian village of Chisasibi is located about 1,000 km north of Montreal,it is one of eight Cree communities in the area. Social: The community hunting area is divided into some 40 traplines or hunting territories.According to the James Bay agreement the hunters and fishermen have the right to use the Western quarter(area) and for trapping they have rights to use for the entire area.All persons wishing to hunt,fish or trap should inform the boss of the area,since he is the person who has access to his area |
|
(b) Governance
rules |
| The trapline holder controls (Beaver boss) the traditional common property system in Chisasibi.All persons wishing to hunt, fish or trap are expected to inform the boss of the area.The boss manages the harvesting capacity for the benefit of band society as a whole.He may enforce customary laws with respect to harvesting activities and hunting behaviour.The boss inherits the hunting territory usually from his father or other relative, but he cannot sell or buy it.If he is not able to manage it for community benefit , he can be held accountable for it and forced by social pressure to step down. |
|
(c) Resource Allocation |
| The fish that comes out of the net normally belongs to the owner of the net, a considerable amount also goes to other households, close neighbours, friends etc as long as the supplies last. Some of the fishermen expect to be paid back either in cash or kind. A negligible portion of the total fish catch is sold through the local cooperative store. Although there are no rituals in the killing of fish but every fishermen are supposed to follow a code of ethics:If more than one group is fishing at a site, they take turns. One sweep of the net takes about 5 minutes, but it is necessary to wait for 30 minutes between successive sweeps so that fish will come into the cove again.With 3 groups present each of the group would have to wait for ninety minutes for its turn |
|
Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| Not reported in the text |
|
Problems Faced by Institution |
| The management problem which faces the Cree fishermen is how to harvest the sparse production of a large area where the stocks consists of old fish available in large units, but the rate of the renewability is very slow |
|
Other Features of Institution |
| In Chisasibi, once there was a serious violation of trappers'customary law- the beaver boss neglected to pull out his traps and as a result he was subsequently forced to relinquish his authority. |
|
Purpose |
| Study of Resource use |
|
Country |
| Canada |
|
Region |
| Montreal (Chisasibi) |
|
Date Of Publication |
| RS-23/03/96 |
|
|
