Tides of Change: Fisheries in Casamance Amid Global Forces Institutional Change in Artisanal Fishery Commons and Its Implications for Food Security in Basse Casamance, Senegal

This article examines the artisanal fisheries of the Basse Casamance region in southern Senegal and investigates how changing governance arrangements shape their capacity to sustain local food security under conditions of socio-ecological change. These fisheries face mounting pressures from climate change, global market integration, shifting governance regimes, and emigration, while also undergoing profound institutional and socio-ecological transformations. Based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and semi-structured interviews, the study traces the historical evolution of fisheries governance from precolonial common-property arrangements through colonial and postcolonial interventions to contemporary challenges such as industrial overfishing and environmental degradation. The analysis combines theoretical perspectives from New Institutionalism, Political Ecology, and Common-Property Theory to illuminate how local fisheries governance operates within a context of institutional pluralism and external pressures. The findings demonstrate that inland fisheries remain embedded in communal responsibility, local rulemaking, and ecological stewardship, but are increasingly strained by state regulation, market integration, and demographic shifts. Nevertheless, local actors sustain resilience by negotiating institutions and diversifying livelihoods. These adaptive strategies not only mitigate external pressures but also reinforce the role of fisheries as a cornerstone of local food security. By highlighting the resilience of artisanal fisheries as locally grounded governance systems, this study contributes to broader debates on sustainability, food security, and institutional change in West African fisheries. It underscores the need to recognize the enduring importance of community-based governance in managing common-pool resources under conditions of globalization and environmental uncertainty.