Territorial Dynamics In Small-Scale Fishing Villages: Economics, Experiences And Conflicts. The Case Of Guabun And Punihuil In The Ancud District, Chiloe

The socio-economic and environmental transformations undergone by fishing villages, as a result of the premature insertion of this sector into the international economy, come in addition to a variety of modernisation processes affecting the societies which inhabit coastal spaces, changing their daily lives. A second factor is the growing supply of tourism services along the coast, implying new adaptations for fishing settlements. These factors act on the coastline, generating processes of disadaptation and disorientation in fishing communities. This constitutes a negative factor both for territorial ordering and for the administration of the resources on which small-scale fishing depends. In this context, the article examines in greater depth the territorial dynamics present in two coastal communities on Chiloe Island, through analysis of the economic and cultural processes and the variations over time of the fishing grounds used by small-scale fishermen. A qualitative methodology is used, based on participative cartography and in-depth interviews, as well as a bio-economic survey. The central objective is to understand from a geosocial focus the economic and productive processes in the two villages, together with possible causes of conflict. Finally, we present the basic factors and aspirations which have made the two communities a focus of attention in the ambit of local development in this type of productive activity.