Summary. Chile has established unique marine resource user rights to reduce resource over-exploitation and expand economic opportunities in coastal areas. These rights sometimes overlap, so that one household might be involved in more than one activity, and also leave out some people who might want to participate.

Background 

Chile has a 6,345 km long coastline with a productive marine ecosystem. Coastal communities depend heavily on fish resources for their livelihood but resource depletion threatens those livelihoods. Local people have deep roots in their communities and lifestyles, which limits their willingness to change their work to non-marine activities. The development of small-scale aquaculture has been proposed as a means to generate new income opportunities. 

Policy lessons