Integral Ecology: a new tool for fishery management
Tissot, Brian N., Washington State Univ., Vancouver, WA
Fishery management requires dynamically
incorporating biology, ecology, political-economy and sociology into an
integrated approach. Integral theory was developed by Ken Wilber to describe
organic evolution in four co-occurring
dimensions: the behavioral, systems, cultural and experiential quadrants. I use
Integral Ecology to analyze
a multiple-use conflict with an ornamental reef fishery in Hawai`i that uses
community-based management of nine
marine protected areas as a process to promote sustainable resources. The
approach illustrates how the normally
joyful experiences of snorklers and divers on coral reefs resulted in negative
interactions with ornamental fish
collectors. These long-term conflicts were eventually transformed into social
movements attempting to ban
collecting, legislative establishment of MPAs, and eventual ecological change on
the reef. Although human conflict
was reduced and sustainability was promoted, lack of acknowledgment of different
worldviews of fishery
management contributes to continued conflict and illustrates a component of the
system that needs further attention.
Integral ecology thus serves as a useful tool to examine the coupled dynamics of
natural and social systems and
provides a holistic view of the complex components of the interaction and a new
view of sustainability.
Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Society of Naturalists, Long Beach, CA, Nov. 2003.
