Fishing Practices in the Galapagos Islands: The Local Struggle Approached Through Two Political Ecology Theses

Overexploitation and illegal fishing continues to be a problem within the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Local compliance regarding conservation initiatives and the regulations governing the access to, and use of marine resources is exacerbating these problems. The conservation and control thesis and the degradation and marginalization thesis from political ecology were applied to the current issues in the Marine Reserve as an attempt to understand behaviour motivation. Commonalities among these theses suggest a socio-political struggle where government and international agencies are discrediting local values and livelihood, and are encouraging the overexploitation of their resources. Future management should strive to understand and address these motivations; working with and encouraging the inclusion of local communities into management regimes to ultimately ensure compliance, community empowerment, and the long-term sustainable use of marine resources and the integrity of the marine ecosystems in the Galapagos Islands.