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From Practice to Artefact: Heritage Licensing and the Ontology of Coracle Net Fishing in Wales

Identification

Public canonical key
doi:10.3390/humans6030031
Authors
Gareth Thomas · Louise Steel · Luci Attala
Reported year
2026
Reported language
en
Source type
article
First detected
2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00
Last metadata observation
2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00
Last HTTP verification
Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Reported affiliation countries

GB

Documentary abstract — original language

This paper examines how the designation of coracle net fishing in southwest Wales as intangible cultural heritage is reshaping the ontology of the fishery. Drawing on two years of ethnographic research with the Carmarthen Coracle and Netsmen Association, the study approaches river fishing not simply as an economic activity but as a culturally embedded practice through which relationships with river environments, kinship, ecological memory, and seasonal time are enacted and sustained. Coracle fishers on the River Towy possess detailed ecological knowledge developed through repeated engagement with water conditions, fish behaviour, and shifting river rhythms across generations. In the context of salmonid decline, polluted catchments, and regulatory tightening, heritage licensing now permits continued practice while restricting the sale and retention of migratory fish. The paper argues that this shift operates as an indirect form of displacement. While affirming cultural value, it reclassifies a working fishery as heritage display and constrains the material rights and adaptive capacity that sustain it as livelihood practice. By analysing how fishers interpret and respond to this reclassification, the paper shows how bureaucratic heritage frameworks transform what the fishery is understood to be, from reciprocal labour and livelihood to curated cultural artefact. The Welsh case contributes to anthropological debates on heritage governance, bureaucratic classification, and the regulation of small scale resource practices under environmental change.

Identifiers

OPENALEX
W7204995834
DOI
10.3390/humans6030031

Documentary context

Documentary family
Scholarship
Source-reported types
article
Natural entities mentioned
River

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

  • openalex:w1490996466 · CITES
  • openalex:w1684781464 · CITES
  • openalex:w1985003839 · CITES
  • openalex:w2007243195 · CITES
  • openalex:w2019319448 · CITES
  • openalex:w2033973361 · CITES
  • openalex:w2063810997 · CITES
  • openalex:w2075586279 · CITES
  • openalex:w2079505927 · CITES
  • openalex:w2105321454 · CITES
  • openalex:w2106856169 · CITES
  • openalex:w2144985825 · CITES
  • openalex:w2161586297 · CITES
  • openalex:w2329417132 · CITES
  • openalex:w2588785545 · CITES
  • openalex:w2623321550 · CITES
  • openalex:w2801529822 · CITES
  • openalex:w2803958568 · CITES
  • openalex:w2808893258 · CITES
  • openalex:w2884953569 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary field provenance

Source-backed values and values with unresolved provenance are kept separately. Bibliographic provenance validates no legal claim.

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Authors
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Document type
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Jurisdiction
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Amendment / repeal
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Cite this reference

Gareth Thomas; Louise Steel; Luci Attala. From Practice to Artefact: Heritage Licensing and the Ontology of Coracle Net Fishing in Wales. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/humans6030031

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APA, Chicago, ISO 690: bibliographic formats using available fields. OSCOLA / Bluebook: structured data only; full legal citation compliance is not claimed without verification of required elements.

APA
Gareth Thomas; Louise Steel; Luci Attala. (2026). From Practice to Artefact: Heritage Licensing and the Ontology of Coracle Net Fishing in Wales. https://doi.org/10.3390/humans6030031
Chicago
Gareth Thomas; Louise Steel; Luci Attala. From Practice to Artefact: Heritage Licensing and the Ontology of Coracle Net Fishing in Wales. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/humans6030031
ISO 690
Gareth Thomas; Louise Steel; Luci Attala. From Practice to Artefact: Heritage Licensing and the Ontology of Coracle Net Fishing in Wales. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/humans6030031

UDTR Global Rights of Nature Legal Library. From Practice to Artefact: Heritage Licensing and the Ontology of Coracle Net Fishing in Wales. Documentary record: https://www.declarationuniverselledesdroitsdelarbre.org/global-rights-of-nature-radar/reference/r-7316b932a0d5c3726e9da8917de4cc3f/ · Last HTTP verification: not performed

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Field provenance and record version

Version 0cf3fae26072ff56 · udtr-reference-1.1.2

Title
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00
Authors
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00
Year
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00
Identifiers
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00
Source URL
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00

History tracks record metadata and does not certify the state of the law.

efd5a35a3dbcfb45 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00

ca7fb8beb0b281f7 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00

514378498e29e69e · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00

0cf3fae26072ff56 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.740082+00:00

Frozen-version metadata

Research dossiers and documentary relations

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Gareth Thomas

Louise Steel

Luci Attala

Source roles

Discovery source · https://doi.org/10.3390/humans6030031

Discovery source · https://openalex.org/W7204995834

An authority link alone does not verify a legal claim. Abstracts and full texts remain subject to their source terms.

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.

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