Tourism versus artisanal fishing. About La Graciosa Island Marine Reserve and the Northern Islets of Lanzarote

Abstract

The Marine Reserve of La Graciosa Island and the islets of the North of Lanzarote  was created in 1995 and, since then, the fishing activities of the local population and their local culture of the sea have been decreasing progressively while tourist activities are emerging as the panacea in a little island as La Graciosa with no more than 600 inhabitants.  In this paper we try to analyse how these two processes are linked and what role is playing the local marine protected area in this case. We use not only qualitative information from fishers and their domestic units, but also quantitative data contrasting some objective parameters as the number of fishers and active fishing boats or service related business (restaurants, apartments, etc.), before and after the implementation of the marine reserve. In this sense, an important element is the perception of this institution from the local population, and the evolution of their attitude in favour or against it. These processes are related to the institutional design of the marine reserves in the Canary Island, where the participation of local fishing populations is severely limited.