Coulthard, Sarah. 2006. Adaptation and survival, or conflict and division: Different reactions to a changing common property resource institution in a South Indian fishery. Presented at “Survival of the Commons: Mounting Challenges and New Realities,” the Eleventh Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Bali, Indonesia, June 19-23, 2006.

This paper documents a changing CPR management institution and the reactions of the local fishingsociety to those changes.The paper starts with adescription of the Padu system as it operates at Pulicat lake, and its dual role in conflict reduction and sustainable fishing practice. The Padu system at Pulicat lake is caste and gear specific, andhistorically, Padu has included only the traditional fishing caste ‘Pattinaver’ communities. The thirdpart of the paper illustrates how the Padu system ischanging. Changes in state fisheries policies andglobal markets for prawn export, have affected both fishing behavior, and the breakdown of caste specificity as a determinant to accessing superior fishing grounds. The fourth part of this paper discusses how people are responding to the increasing instability of the Padu system, and the different reactions shown by traditional and non traditional fishers. The paper concludes with some thoughts for management, and a discussion on the future outlookfor the Padu system.