Voodoo versus fishing committees: The role of traditional and contemporary institutions in fisheries management

- In Benin fishing activities were traditionally regulated by the Voodoo religion.
- Voodoo fishers are still less likely to use traditionally prohibited fishing gear.
- Recently created fishing committees implemented new, alternative rules for fishing.
- Fishers respect one of these new rules to some extent, but freeriding is a problem.
- Once Voodoo fishers break the traditional rule, they appear to shift to this new rule.

We study the co-existence of two community-based institutions for fisheries management in Benin: a traditional institution embedded in the Voodoo religion and a recent secular institution in the form of fishing committees. Using household survey data on fishing activities, we find that rules of both institutions have a statistically significant but small impact on the use of unsustainable fishing gear. We further find that Voodoo fishers who break the traditional Voodoo-based rule follow the fishing committee rule to the same extent as other fishers. This finding is consistent with a possible transition from the traditional Voodoo-based institution to the secular fishing committee institution. More research is needed to fully assess the effectiveness of, and interactions between, the two institutions.