Wolfgang Stotz

Social-Ecological Collapse: TURF Governance in the Context of Highly Variable Resources in Chile

In Chile, a Territorial User Rights for Fisheries system was developed to manage benthic fisheries. This system is referred to as Management Areas for the Exploitation of Benthic Resources. Management areas involved a shift from top-down control by governments to comanagement. We have analyzed the effects of a highly variable fishery, characterized by boom-and-bust cycles, on the governance of local institutions designed for resource management. We focused on a case study in north central Chile, in which the surf clam fishery experienced high levels of variability when the fishery was in an open access system. The management areas were established for the fishery in 1999. As a result, a set of rules for the fishery were created and enforced by fishers and local fishery authorities. Despite intense efforts on the part of all stakeholders, the fishery collapsed after three years of management area policy. This approach has been shown to be an effective management option for other species; however, for resources with boom-and-bust cycles, it is important to understand the response pattern of users confronting this spatial and temporal variability before the establishment of territorial user rights. Defining the appropriate spatial scale of the territorial rights could allow fishers to switch among different surf clam beds to maintain their livelihood and support the sustainability of local institutions for resource management.

An Empirical Analysis of the Social and Ecological Outcomes of State Subsidies for Small-Scale Fisheries: A Case Study from Chile

Small-scale fisheries, which are often associated with low levels of income and poor infrastructure, receive substantial funding from governmental institutions worldwide. Very few empirical studies have explored the outcomes of these investments for people and ecosystems. This paper presents the findings of a study aimed at assessing the social and ecological outcomes of government subsidies for small-scale fisheries through an analysis of 32 fishing villages, referred to as caletas, in Chile over a 12- year period. Findings suggest that the funding appears to be higher for those caletas with the highest value landings and is unrelated to socioeconomic need or poverty; that caletas in rural areas receive less investment than their urban counterparts; that funding did not lead to a positive improvement in either the landings or income for fishers; and, finally, that funding appears to be a consequence of, rather than a reason for, the ecological and productive history of fisheries. These findings challenge two assumptions informing the debate about subsidization in small-scale fisheries: first, that subsidization will lead to over-exploitation, and second, that subsidies are supplied to alleviate poverty.

Effects of the Discharge of Iron Ore Tailings on Subtidal Rocky-Bottom Communities in Northern Chile

ABSTRACT González, S.A.; Stotz, W., and Lancellotti, D., 2014. Effects of the discharge of iron ore tailings on subtidal rocky-bottom communities in northern Chile. Some of the many mining operations that exist in northern Chile dispose their mine tailings directly into the sea. Little is known about the effects of these tailings on shallow rocky subtidal communities. This study reports these effects for an iron ore pelletization plant that has discharged for ca. 23 years in the intertidal of a cove on the exposed rocky coast of northern Chile, generating high turbidity in the water column and deposit of sediments on the bottom. A nonparametric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination analysis for the species of the rocky subtidal communities, based on the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index, showed great differences, the affected communities being dominated by incrusting invertebrates, whereas the unaffected areas at the same depth had kelp beds. The effects were observed only close to the discharge and were not observed in the more shallow water communities, which in affected and unaffected areas consisted of barren grounds dominated by calcareous algae and sea urchins. The effect on the vertical zonation pattern of communities did not produce differences in the effective diversity, which turned out to be similar among affected and control sites. This occurred because of the replacement, more than the elimination, of species on affected sites. This type of study, in which information is generally maintained in reports only seen by industry and governments, needs to be published to contribute to a more comprehensive database for the improvement of decision-making processes regarding coastal subtidal rocky communities and the effects of human activities on these environments. RESUMEN En el norte de Chile se concentran numerosas operaciones mineras, las que en algunos casos depositan las colas de sus procesos directamente al mar, habiéndose reportado mortalidades masivas de peces, algas e invertebrados. Si bien se han realizado diferentes estudios para describir el impacto de estas descargas sobre las comunidades intermareales y de fondos blandos, los efectos sobre las comunidades submareales de fondos rocosos son escasamente conocidos. El presente estudio reporta los efectos sobre las comunidades de fondos rocosos producto de la descarga de sólidos inertes vertidos como colas de un proceso de pelletización de hierro por más de 23 años en Ensenada Chapaco, próxima a la ciudad de Huasco en el norte de Chile. La descarga del proceso minero generó alta turbidez en la columna de agua y un alto grado de sedimentación de material particulado fino sobre el fondo. El estudio incluyó un examen cuantitativo de las comunidades de organismos marinos presentes en los fondos rocosos al interior de Ensenada Chapaco. El análisis de ordenación nMDS, en base a las disimilitudes entre la flora y fauna bentónica de distintos sectores de estudio, usando el indice Bray-Curtis, mostró que las comunidades más profundas de Ensenada Chapaco presentan una estructura única, distinta a las comunidades de similares profundidades, pero ajenas al area de influencia de la descarga. Los resultados del análisis nMDS fueron consistentes para la comunidad completa, organísmos móviles, sesiles y organismos suspensívoros. Las comunidades afectadas estuvieron dominadas por organismos sésiles, como el caso de poliquetos tubícolas, cirripedios, mitílidos y briozoos mayormente de hábitos crípticos, siendo esta condición distinta a áreas no impactadas, donde se desarrollan bosques de algas pardas laminariales dominadas por Lessonia trabeculata. No obstante, estos efectos fueron evidentes sólo en puntos cercanos al area de descarga, no siendo afectadas, aparentemente, las comunidades de aguas someras. Estas comunidades, como también las de áreas ajenas a la decarga, presentan típicos “fondos blanqueados” del submareal somero de la costa del norte de Chile, los que son dominados por algas calcareas incrustantes y erizos de mar. Si bien la composición y abundancia de los organismos es afectada, no ocurre así con la diversidad que se mantiene y hasta se incrementa el interior del area impactada. Esto se debe a que mas que una eliminación de especies, ocurrieron reemplazos. La modificación del patrón de zonación y de la estructura comunitaria producto de la descarga de las colas del proceso minero, produce un quiebre en la uniformidad del submareal de fondos rocosos de la costa del norte de Chile. Estos resultados resaltan la importancia de disponer de data científica detallada y actualizada sobre los patrones generales de las comunidades naturales de costa rocosa, así como la necesidad de definir metodologías estandarizadas e indicadores que permitan detectar los impactos producidos por la intervención humana sobre comunidades submareales de costa rocosa en el Pacífico Sur. Es necesario que este tipo de información, que generalmente es conocida solo por las empresas y el estado, sea publicada para ir enriqueciendo la necesaria base de datos para poder evaluar en su real dimension este tipo de impactos a lo largo de las costas.