The Slaves of Water: Socio-Cultural Construction of the Community-Based Coastal Resource Management in the South-Eastern Bangladesh
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Date
2008
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Abstract
"The hereditary Hindu 'Jaladas' (literally slaves of water) caste-based fishers, a socio-politically secluded ecological community, developed and reshaped their resource and territorial management practices tuned to ethno-ecological knowledge, hydro-geological conditions, cultural heritage, value-systems and economic well-being through a long interaction with their immediate environment. This study, based on extensive participatory field works in coastal fishing villages of Coxs Bazaar district, Bangladesh for around twenty months, examines how locally crafted diverse management institutions survived for several decades, with special focus on 'faar' management system. Based on generally accepted values and operational clarities, such age-old institutions manage fishing entitlements through exercising set of rules. Faar system is widely prevalent among estuarine and marine set bag net (E/MSBN) and gill net operators targeting seasonally available commercial species. The scope, principles, and temporal and spatial variations of fishing entitlements are described. This study also examines the relevant socio-cultural constructions of the rural institutions and fishing in pretty details."
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Keywords
coastal resources, water management, indigenous institutions, community, IASC