Artisanal fishing, economics and broking arrangements along the coast of austral Chile. A historical-ethnographic analysis from a Latin American perspective

Abstract

In this article we start by examining the relationship established historically by the inhabitants of the coast of austral Chile with economic agents – entrepreneurs or brokers – whose demand stoked exploitation of the abundant natural resources of this area, mainly wood, mammal skins and fish, from at least the middle of the nineteenth century. The work, based on an ethnographic study, leads up to the problematisation of the current and/or contemporary state of the dynamics of these strongly rooted relationships, in the time-honoured form of brokerage, a critical factor in artisanal fishing systems.