The padu system of community-based fisheries management: change and local institutional innovation in south India

As a commons institution, the padu system in Vallarpadam Island, Cochin, Kerala, defines the group of rights holders and resource boundaries and fishing sites. It is caste-specific, gear-specific (stake-nets) and species specific (shrimp). As used in Vallarpadam, and elsewhere in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, padu is characterized by the use of lottery for rotational access. The institution functions in providing equitable access, collective social responsibility, and rule-making and conflict resolution. The emergence of the institution in the study area is a response to change in markets and legislation in the 1970s. It may also be seen a response of fishing communities to keep their options open, that is, to be resilient.