Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
a lot of superstitions surrounding pregnancy and the health of the unborn
baby.)
Although there was no formal system of rules and traditions for i sheries
management, conl icts within and between user groups were rare. There
were a number of potential sources of conl ict - between trap i shers and
net i shers using the same i shing sites, between local Quirimban i shers
and i shers from Quissanga on the mainland side of the bay, and between
Quirimban i shers and Nampula i shers. There were also many opportu-
nities for theft and for 'cheating'. Seine nets, perhaps the most valuable
possessions on Quirimba, were always left anchored in the water of the
i sh landing site overnight and were never stolen during the study period.
Traps were rarely stolen or emptied by people other than their owner.
In interviews, trap and net i shers were asked if theft was a problem
and about conl icts between user groups, but none of those interviewed
expressed any concerns. Most net i shers tried to avoid i shing over areas
containing traps or lifting nets over traps although some were reported to
take the i sh out of traps caught in their nets. Trap i shers did not come
into conl ict over sites i shed or empty the traps of other i shers. Dynamite
i shing has not been witnessed in the Quirimba Archipelago, but in the
past it has been a serious problem in coral areas of Southern Tanzania just
across the border (Guard and Masaiganah, 1997).
In southern Kenya, McClanahan et al. (1997) found that where old tra-
ditions of respect for sea spirits and customs for behaviour at sea had been
lost, theft from set nets and traps and of the nets and traps had increased.
This implies that without the specii c superstitions in place that were feared
by all sectors of the community, people (in that case mainly the younger
people to the anger of the elders) would behave without respect for others.
It was therefore remarkable how rare conl icts were on Quirimba, where
religious and superstitious beliefs seemed to be disjointed and did not form
a coherent code of living and where people of a range of dif erent back-
grounds, ethnic groups and beliefs were living in the shadow of a 17-year
civil war. One of the reasons for the high levels of trust and low incidence
of conl ict may have been the strong sense of 'kinship'. People had large
networks of extended families and friends with whom they shared food
and exchanged help and services. Many people married more than once
(some ordinary Quirimban i shers had up to three wives, each living in a
dif erent household) and had siblings with dif erent sets of parents, linking
together disparate parts of the community. This type of complex kinship
was also reported from southern Mozambique (Gengenbach, 1998).
Parents often do not bring up some of their own children, but entrust them
to relatives who may not have children. This complex network of kinship
in a community of 3000 meant that anti-social behaviour such as stealing
