Access Regimes and Institutions: The Economic Organisation of the Migrant Popo Fishermen of Pointe-Noire, Congo

Abstract

Within Popo society in Pointe Noire, Congo, fishermen seIl their fish to their wives at a price slightly below the local market price. The wives process the fish and re-seIl it in distant markets, making a profit they mainly re-invest in their husbands' fishing activities. The present paper investigates this specific economic house hold organisation in order to reveal the mechanisms producing and preserving it. To accommodate the analysis the access regime, describing the distributions of rights as well as the different actors' ability to act upon their rights, is introduced and defined. An important insight generated by the analysis is how particular institutions exist to serve the economic interests of dominant groups in the society.