3.2.3. Sustainable Fishing by the Sense of Traditional Territory

In the past, the A'tolan Amis would not claim ownership of the traditional marine territory in order to exclude others. However, a sense of protecting the sea has been emerging recently due to the decrease in marine resources. For example, a middle-aged man who came from the other township staying in A'tolan's traditional marine area was trying to poison lobsters; he was found by a local Amis spearfishing man, and a violent argument ensued. The Amis spearfishing man asked him to leave the territory of the A'tolan Amis. Therefore, although the A'tolan Amis think that the ocean belongs to everyone, this does not mean that others can destroy the marine ecology with impunity. In terms of the sense of traditional territory, the A'tolan Amis will start watching out and caring for marine resources. Other examples have also recently been happening. Firstly, in recent years, A'tolan Amis people have found that the parrotfish in the traditional marine area have been decreasing. In order to protect the parrotfish, the leaders in the age organization who are also experienced freediving spearfishers have banned spearing the parrotfish at night since 2017. Secondly, the new leader (kakita'an in the Amis language) of the A'tolan tribe in 2020 also realized the ecological changes in the traditional marine area, and began to plan to consult the tribal members to discuss how to protect the sea.

These customary norms and those adapting and reshaping customary governance institutions for managing local marine areas are not formally regulated among the A'tolan Amis, so there needs to be organizations in the community that will support the initiative.
