Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

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Marine Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol

Trouble in paradise: Competing discourses and complex governance in the

ABSTRACT

In this paper, the complicated governance of the Danube Delta is discussed on the background of a thorough description of the history and evolution of this place.
Sulina is taken as a case in point, as the only town of the Romanian delta and site of an extensive anthropological fieldwork (2006–2017). The paper interrogates the
more or less subtle conflicts inside the community and between the local community and other actors, and their consequences for governance; it describes the legacy
of the communist past as it has impacted the governance of the delta in terms of path dependence; it delineates the different, sometimes competing discourses that
currently shape the fate and governance of the Delta and illustrates the elusiveness of discursive constructions of “nature” and “Delta”; finally, the paper argues for a
reassessment of the role of local community and local narratives and needs for a comprehensive governance.

1. Introduction dependence, using insights from extensive fieldwork with the local
community and arguing, in the end, for a reconsideration of the genuine
In one of our first fieldwork visits in Sulina, a meeting was hosted at participative role of local community.
the town hall to address several problems concerning the local com-
munity. Outside the city hall, in the park, there was a group of mostly 1.1. Complex governance of Romanian Danube Delta
fishermen, poorly dressed, smoking and chatting. When I asked them
why they do not join the meeting, they said: “There is no place for us in This paper is informed by Evolutionary Governance Theory, in
there. We are not as white as them”. What might have seemed like a looking at the history of governance of the Danube Delta in terms of
trivial comment back then is rather symptomatic for the current pro- evolution of relationships between actors, discourses and organizations;
blematic governance of the Danube Delta, pertaining to issues of trau- as Van Assche et al. put it, “all elements of governance are subject to
matic identities, multiple stakeholders, participation and multilayered evolution, they co-evolve, and most of them are the product of gov-
relations of power. ernance itself” ([1]: 5). There is an agreement in the literature that the
My paper discusses the explicit and subtle tensions in the small town environment in which governance takes place is not unitary and flaw-
and local community of Sulina, on the background of the complexity of less, “not marked by a single rationality or identity”, but rather the
post-communist governance of the Romanian part of Danube Delta. playground of multiple desires, needs, discourses and values. “In gov-
First, it describes the historical trajectory of Sulina, providing a context ernance, confronted with the need to take decisions, there is usually
to its current peculiarity and self-importance (section 2). Then, it will pressure to reflect on identity, values, goods, and they might crystallize
briefly examine the communist period and the impact it had on the in the process of reflection, but this is not necessarily the case, and it
landscape and the people of the delta and its governance, in terms of does not necessarily arise without conflict” ([2]: 22). Participatory
path-dependence (section 3). The next section will discuss the post- approaches seem to be the magical solution for alleviating conflicts and
communist present and the complex environment in which more actors ensuring stakeholder representation in decision-making processes (for
and decision-makers renegotiate the rules of the game (section 4). more comprehensive discussions of participation in environmental
Subsequently, the paper analyses the concepts of delta and nature in management, see Refs. [3–6]. However, as Brosius and Russell argue,
terms of object formation, and their implications for governance (sec- “stakeholder participation is naively premised on the idea that work-
tion 5). Finally, the paper will wrap up the discussion about the chal- shops and other tools can level the playing field and enable different
lenges of complex governance for such a place and the practical con- stakeholders to interact on an equitable and genuinely collaborative
sequences for different stakeholders. While asserting the complicated basis” (in Ref. [7]: 419). In fact, critics say, “participation has become a
nature of the governance of the delta might seem like a truism, my management technique aimed at ‘producing consensus’ and rarely of-
paper endeavors to illustrate this complexity in terms of path fers local actors the resources and clout to change the structural

E-mail address: [email protected].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103522
Received 14 May 2018; Received in revised form 25 January 2019; Accepted 6 May 2019
0308-597X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Petruța Teampău, Marine Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103522
P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

conditions that are the ultimate causes of environmental degradation” 1.2. Method
(in Ref. [7]: 419).
In a comprehensive discussion of the case of Ukraine's Danube This research paper is based on ten months of ethnographic field-
Delta, Tanya Richardson argues that liberal participatory approaches work in the Romanian Danube Delta (extended between 2006 and
are prone to failure when employed in contexts “where relationships 2017), encompassing participant observation, in depth interviews, and
are based on non-liberal political ontologies” and asks for a re- informal conversations, as well as documentation work in Tulcea.
consideration of environmental management “in ways that take onto- Additionally, a thorough examination of online national and local
logical differences seriously rather than assuming that in spite of cul- media (covering the period 2016–2018) helped to assess the larger
tural differences, people share basic liberal assumptions about the social and political context of the problem.
individual, the political and politics” ([7]: 417). The author claims that I take as case study Sulina, a small stripe of land, in between
participatory strategies are unsuccessful, among other causes, “because Danube, the Black Sea and the marshes of the Delta, located at the end
the notions of power as transparent that are embedded in deliberative of Danube's middle branch, a multifarious landscape that has circum-
models contradict understandings of power as opaque in many places in scribed the destiny of this small settlement throughout its history. Its
the world, including postsocialist countries such as Ukraine ([7]: 422). coastal location has shaped, in diverse ways, the fate and fortune of this
Romania seems to follow a similar path. With one of the most re- town. As Van Assche and al. put it, “the coast is, in its very basic sense, a
pressive and authoritarian regimes among the former communist place of contact and intensified interaction, between ecosystems, be-
countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Romania learns rather slowly tween groups of people, trade flows, bacteria, and epistemic lenses onto
the lessons of participation, cooperation and transparency ([6]: 78). the world” ([10]: 2). Sulina is, to its best, such a place. A small settle-
Although civil society seems to be thriving compared to that of Ukraine, ment involved in navigation, trade and piracy for most of its history,
for instance, the number of Romanian NGOs involved in environmental whose few inhabitants have taken advantage of its costal position and
sustainability is still relatively small and, most importantly, of regional loose administration, Sulina became the headquarters of the European
relevance. Moreover, their emergence is owed more to meeting the EU's Commission of Danube (CED), between 1856 and 1939, and witnessed
accession requirements and complying with EU membership standards. a quick, but rather artificial development. However, even if Sulina as a
“Such a lack of bottom-up activities outside of the EU accession context case study seems a rather restrictive choice for our discussion of the
may be partly explained by the fact that environmental sustainability problematic governance of Danube Delta, I argue that, in fact, it is a
(together with gender equity) values have not been viewed within the good vantage point for observing larger phenomena in the region. The
Romanian society as “traditional” or indigenous” ([6]: 80); nor were local community of Sulina, where I spent most of my fieldwork, is well-
they prioritized above poverty, education, social inequalities and other connected to the surrounding villages, through relatives, business ties
more critical issues of democratic “transition”. or mere gossip. Whether they like it or not, people belong to the Delta
The Romanian side of Danube Delta covers 3446 km2 out of a total and share its fate.
surface of 4152 km2, the rest of it being located on the territory of
Ukraine. The third main branch of Danube, Chilia, is also, for almost 2. The European Commission of Danube – the golden age
86 km, the official frontier with Ukraine. Since 2007, this border is also
an EU border. Traditionally a multi-ethnic space, a place of constant Up until the middle of the 19th century, Sulina was still a minor
mobility, of people moving in and out, shifting networks, ambiguous settlement with an infamous reputation, a population made up mostly
political administration (and often political conflict and war) is not the of pirates, adventurers and criminals, under the official jurisdiction of
ideal candidate for unproblematic governance. In recent history, in the the Russian Empire. Intentionally or not (to upkeep their own harbors),
Danube Delta, planning and development policies were focused on the the Russians were openly neglecting the mouth of Danube. The eco-
intensive use and exploitation of its resources; unlike in the case of nomic interests of the major European powers (especially British) and
other deltas, decisions were implemented authoritatively, from top to the need to access the grains from the Romanian Principalities trans-
bottom. “The interference between the land and the sea environments, formed, by 1850, the problem of Danube into an issue of international
fertile soil and unique character led to thinking that terrains can be politics. The Peace Treaty in Paris (March 1856), following the war of
intensively used. However, it is important to realize that this natural Crimea, created the European Commission of Danube (with re-
system of the delta is highly affected by intensive human activities and presentatives of France, England, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and
should be planned according to the natural recovery capacity of its the Ottoman Empire) and established its headquarters in Sulina, for an
physical and ecological system” ([8,9]: 1150). It was not until after initial mandate of two years. The mission was to keep the mouth of
1989 that the conservation and protection of the area became part of Danube operable and to ensure freedom of navigation on the middle
the official discourse and objectives; the Danube Delta was included in branch of Danube, Sulina, chosen after careful analyses and negotia-
the international network of biosphere reserves by the Man and Bio- tions. The head of operations, the British engineer sir Charles Augustus
sphere (MAB) Program of UNESCO (1990), then recognized as a wet- Hartley, embarked upon a large scale engineering program, including
land of international importance under the RAMSAR Convention the straightening of the Sulina branch and the building of jetties into
(1991) and listed in the World Heritage List under the World Cultural the Black Sea, to prevent the silting up of the mouth ([11]: 52). Between
and Natural Heritage Convention (1990). Establishing this protected 1862 and 1902, CED managed to shorten and deepen the Sulina branch
area changed radically the fate and the life of this region, setting new (a quite progressive endeavor in the epoch) and created the conditions
regulations and restrictions for the locals, according to the mission of for an intensified modern system of navigation, opening up the com-
the Reserve Administration of “creating and applying a special regime mercial route for large ships up to Brăila harbor (porto franco since 1906
of management in order to conserve and protect the biodiversity in the and headquarters of the grain stock market between 1883 and 1948).
natural ecosystems of the reserve, to develop human settlements and to The Commission was also actively involved in the life of the com-
organize economic activities in correlation with the support capacity of munity, building the proper infrastructure of an urban setting: a hos-
these ecosystems” ([8,9]: 1153). According to the website of DDBRA, pital, the water tower, the building known as “the CED palace”, a multi-
the reserve includes strictly protected areas (20 sites covering a total of confessional cemetery, and even a telegraphic line linking Sulina to
50 904 ha, 8.7% of the Reserve's surface) and buffer areas established Tulcea and Galați, and later a telephonic line. Also, CED was a generous
around the strictly protected sites (222 996 ha, representing 38.5% of benefactor of all religious denominations: Sulina had a Catholic Church,
the Reserve's area). There are also economic zones, covering 306 100 ha
(52.8% of the Reserve's surface) which include agricultural and forest
areas, localities, and areas for ecological restoration.1 1
http://www.ddbra.ro/en/danube-delta-biosphere-reserve/danube-delta.

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P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

a Russian old-believer orthodox church, an Anglican one, a Greek one, especially with the bordering city of Vâlcov/Vylkove, now on the ter-
an Armenian one, a mosque and a synagogue. On the beach, there was a ritory of Ukraine. People came and went freely, trade was flourishing.
Casino; the city had many restaurants, a theater, typography and Stories about abundance of products being sold directly on the streets
newspapers. By 1930, CED was employing almost 400 people of dif- by peasants and merchants come up in interviews, together with details
ferent ethnicities, all well paid in golden francs ([12]: 265-6). of places and locations of urban cosmopolitan life.
During the CED period (1856–1939), Sulina was detached from its However, in 1939, when WWII started, CED withdrew, leaving in
Delta context, and a new identity was rapidly constructed which turned charge a young Romanian state and putting an end to this golden age of
a liminal space into a center. Sulina acquired some central functions, prosperity. After the Second World War, Sulina and the broader Danube
attracted people and activities because of the CED, and the pivotal role region became once again marginalized, with the unraveling of net-
it created for the town.2 In his only novel “Europolis”, first published in works of places, people, information and the flow of goods, the cos-
1933, Jean Bart (former CED Commissioner and commander in chief of mopolitanism and ‘Europeanness’ of CED long gone. What used to be a
the Harbor at the beginning of the 19th century) acknowledges the crucial node connecting Europe and the Ottoman-dominated Black Sea
functioning of CED, which he must have known directly, as “a small area turned into a European periphery ([11]: 54). The war was de-
world in itself, Europe in miniature, with sceneries, backstage and vastating for Sulina, due to its coastal position and closeness to the
protocol, which has a life of its own” ([11]: 59). Sulina enjoyed under Russian border and, at the end of it, the city was facing another half of
CED (since 1921) a status of extra-territorial sovereignty, benefited century of communist rule. The period of communism (1947–1989)
from many fiscal amenities as porto franco (since 1870) and witnessed a altered significantly the demographic, physical and socio-economic
rapid flourishment unlike any other small city in Romania. However, at outlook of the city. The new authorities cleaned up the place, removing
the beginning of WWII when CED left (1939) and the young Romanian any reminder of the previous regime. The Anglican church, having
state took over its jurisdiction, cosmopolite Sulina (and Dobrudja in survived the bombing during the war, was forcefully taken down by the
general) represented a challenge, politically, administratively and cul- communists. The big bronze bell was carried, across Danube, to the
turally. Central authorities in Bucharest struggled to control the region naval shipyard where it was used to mark the beginning and end of
by encouraging internal migration of ethnic Romanians and delaying working shifts. On the place of the former Armenian church the Fish
the granting of citizenship to locals (see Ref. [13]. Almost a century Factory was built (and locals remembered the moment because most of
later, residents in Sulina still preserve a strong sense of self-identity and them were reluctant to the idea of taking out the last bricks from what
exceptionality, sometimes useful for coping with the isolation and used to be the sacred altar). It was the end of an era, and the beginning
marginality associated with the coastal condition, despite the fact that of a completely different one.
“the relative smooth space of the sea offers […] the virtuality of new
connections and flows, of goods, people and ideas, a partial escape from 3. Communist planning and authoritative governance
the control mechanisms of the state” ([10]: 6).
One of the most coherent and realist local voices, an elder man of The end of the WWII brought, for Romania and the neighboring
Greek origin, late Panait Zachis (interviewed by the author between countries, the establishment of a communist regime that will last for
2006 and 2009), describes a city which was certainly caught in a net- half a century (1947–1989). Locals remember that, after the war, for a
work of well-established connections to the outside world: “We had very while, there was just poverty, drought and famine; CED moved away,
good networks through the ships that were traveling all over the world and Jews, Armenians, and Greeks fled Sulina. Then, slowly, the new regime
were bringing back goods for the local stores. People who wanted to travel to started to make its presence felt in the area. On the vacant spots of the
Italy, Greece, and Turkey left with a simple document, which was actually a beautiful bourgeois buildings destroyed by war new blocks of flats were
piece of paper written by hand, with an instant picture, saying where and for built. The Fish Factory was erected in the lower part of the town, at-
how long they go. All they needed was a stamp, and they could go. That was tracting young workers from outside of the city (mostly from the
the personal passport. There were passengers' ships and commercial ships, Moldova region), changing also the social and demographic fabric of
and they would bring all possible merchandise from all over the world, such the town. As an informant confessed, it was “the second romantic
as nutmeg, vanilla, pepper, dates, lemons, oranges, cinnamon, and figs”. period of Sulina, after CED”.
This is certainly the synesthetic description of a cosmopolite city, in However, seen from Bucharest, the Delta, with its vast resources and
which different worlds, languages, and people interacted and lived on a attractive landscapes, was rather problematic. Even more was Sulina,
daily basis, enjoying their freedom of movement and mobility so pe- which still preserved reminiscences of a different world, of alternative
culiar to a community involved in international trade. As Van Assche development paths, of wider international networks, which constituted
and al. have emphasized, “the marginal position on the coast simulta- an uncomfortable obstacle for an authoritarian regime. Consequently,
neously allows for more contact with everything outside the nation efforts were made to erase the memories, traces and narratives of it.
state, with escape routes, communication routes; exposure to foreign- People were afraid to talk about CED, even in familiar contexts (in fact,
ness can cast a doubt over prevailing rules and belief systems promoted memories of CED began to circulate only after 2000, when Sulina
by the center. Places of foreign trade were not only breeding grounds of needed to cut itself out of the general negative image of the delta and
democracy (and merchant aristocracy), but also places of hybrid beliefs, re-create the identity of a cosmopolitan city with a glorious past). With
of cynicism and worldly wit - ‘they’ve seen it all” ([10]: 6). the international networks and connections cut, marginality and iso-
Crucially, Zachis's narrative, beyond the fabulous stories about the lation were back again. As one informant put it, referring to the com-
wealth and good life of Sulina, also has a realist framing, in which he munist period, “you could see so many ships passing by, right under your
acknowledges the crucial importance - and the temporality - of the CED nose, with different flags, coming and going, and still you couldn't leave.
project. “If it wasn't for CED, Sulina wouldn't be what it was. It was a huge That was frustrating. Even for sailors it was difficult: for maritime sailors
enterprise. CED was the only one who had the courage to take responsibility there was a special approval required from the authorities”. While this kind
for making the Danube navigable. […] Since its establishment up until 1939 of frustration was common for all Romanian citizens during com-
when it left, CED was for this city like a family. It gave Sulina the shape of a munism, being banned from traveling abroad, for people in Sulina the
city”. Before the war, Sulina was also well-connected to the region, frustration was different. The sea, this vast prospect of freedom and
opportunities, was suddenly a fake opening, a forbidden door. The ships
traveling on the Danube, right under the eyes of the locals, were just
2
Arguably, Sulina continued to be a center of attraction later on, during the another reminder of a lost possibility.
communist period (1946–1989), when people came in search of work and a Some people tried to adapt to the new context and translated the
better life. However, the context was radically different. obvious isolation into a kind of oasis: “We did not care that it was

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P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

communism, that there was Ceaușescu, and what he did. Why should we some say, to their being of Russian origin in a political regime so in-
have cared, here, in Sulina? We did not know and we did not talk about timately close to the Soviet Union (at least until 1965). According to a
Ceaușescu, we only cared about our job. I worked at this hotel and I was local narrative, “the communists considered the Delta an asset and, at the
responsible for the people who came there, not Ceaușescu. I'm telling you, it beginning, they planned to turn it in a big fishery. All private fisheries were
was a good life, and a good life for all”. Local people prefer to think that nationalized, and people needed special authorization to fish. They were all
Sulina is the “gate of Europe”, the entrance gate, for that matter. “We turned into state registered fishermen. The vast majority of the fishermen
were not isolated, as one might think. Sulina is the first harbor of Danube, were Lipovans and, because they were state employees, they had a privileged
you have a connection with other people, with all the countries in the world, position like access to food rations. However, back then the situation was
America, Australia, you name it. All those ships were coming here”. Also, very different, fish was abundant and people could survive even though they
Sulina was, and still is, considered the only town on the territory of the had to take most of the catch to the state owned fishery”.
Biosphere Reserve,3 and its force of attraction was considerable. But A special case was that of the neighboring locality of Sfântu
this, corroborated with an exaggerated self-image feeding on the nar- Gheorghe, with centuries- old tradition in the fishing of sturgeons. In an
rative of the “European golden age”, creates a tension between “us”, the interview published in the press, a researcher from the Danube Delta
sulineni, and “them”, people from out there in the swamp, balta, who are Research Institute in Tulcea declares that before 1989, sturgeons were
uncivilized and rural. Then again, at the next level, identity shifts and it the monopoly of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which
is “us”, people from the Delta, versus “them”, people from Bucharest or controlled the fishing and distribution (in close circuit) of this valuable
other places with decisional power. This regional identity seems to be fish.4 There was a general secrecy around sturgeons, and research was
extremely potent and self-regenerative. During communism, locals felt barely permitted. “Scientific research was a field directly subordinated
alienated from the central power in Bucharest (although quite close, to political orders, and even if the intensive fishing of sturgeons was a
geographically) which, in a totalitarian regime, might have been a problem for this species, the advice of researchers would have been
positive thing. After 1989, other actors (national and international) ignored anyway because it was contrary to state party interests,
entered the stage, and the feeling of marginalization and injustice was Moreover, it would have affected the ideal image that the leaders had
reinforced. In Sulina, the most Eastern locality of Romania (and of EU), about Romania”.5 This is an illustration of the special status of science,
people enjoy repeating the local mantra: “We are the first to see the sun under authoritarian rule, as ideological acolyte of the regime.
and the last to see justice”. Under communism, canalization, reclamation and water regulation
Life has always been rough in the Delta, and so were the people. were the main practices in the management of the delta [14], reflecting
Even if there were almost never open conflicts, people liked to mock a concept of the area as a backward place with real economic potential.
each other, to nickname each other, to gossip (typical for rural en- The image of the Delta as a boundless natural reserve of fish and reed
vironments). “These mockeries are relevant for the quiescent tensions and the subsequent logic of “exploiting resources” owes quite a lot to
that exist between different groups, especially where they compete for the influent discourse of Grigore Antipa, an interwar Romanian biolo-
resources, but at the same time can function as a sort of depressuriza- gist and member of the Romanian Academy, who emphasized over and
tion, letting off steam instead of resorting to explicit violence” ([11]: over again the wealth and resourcefulness of the Delta [15]. A series of
59). Tensions seem to fade when the whole community comes together autocratic decisions under communist governance transformed the
and feels as a family in opposition to a special category of foreigners: physical scenery of the Delta, in ways which most locals considered
tourists. Tourists have always been part of the picture: Sulina was of- deeply intrusive. People are still distressed about closing the natural
ficially a resort in the 1930s; then, during communism, state-owned channels: “we had the canal in front of the house and used to wash and
hotels were built, but locals were also housing tourists in their homes, rinse cloths in the water; it was so crystal-clear, you could see the fish. The
and this tradition continues up until today. People do not pay taxes for canal was communicating with Danube, and fishermen came home each day
their touristic services and feel entitled to not do so. Tourists over- rowing their boats to the gate of their house. Now it's drowned. Agriculture?
whelm the local population during summer and upset the local order of It went well for a while, in the first year we had huge potatoes, but in the
things, but are regarded as a necessary evil: “we lived as a community second year they were already pierced by the reed that was growing back.
because, except for the summer, we lived among ourselves, like a family. And then there was nothing, and agriculture was over”. Most of the com-
Once the tourists, the guests, were gone, we were the same family again” munist plans failed, but in a totalitarian regime, failure was not
(local informant). something to be publicly acknowledged; the effects and consequences
In Sulina, the greatest gap is between the old sulineni (descendants were mostly visible after the regime itself was over: “Full reclamation
of Greek and Armenian merchants) and venituri, people who came from was never achieved, and full control was never achieved. Still, these
elsewhere to the city, in search for a better life (especially in the '70s). policies […] did alter the delta, its landscape, its pattern of habitation
While the former's ego feeds on the glamorous story of Sulina under and land use, its patterns of legality and illegality, to a large extent”
CED, the latter, mostly belonging to the Russian-Lipovan and Ukrainian ([11]: 106).
ethnic groups, are usually portrayed as drunks, poor, and savage. Besides the various makeovers of the place, in terms of geo-political,
Arguably, Lipovans did not have an easy life in Sulina during CED, since social and economic outlook, there are also constant natural transfor-
most of them were either fishermen living in rather closed commu- mations of landscape. The landscape has changed dramatically in the
nities, or working in temporary, unskilled positions for CED (or both). last century. In Sulina, the old lighthouse, once located on the coast, is
One informant recalls: “Life as a fisherman was harsh, fishermen used now in the center of the town, turned into a museum, 2.5 km away from
cotton nets and these often rotted; now it is much easier with the new fishing the seaside. Old maps reveal different shorelines for 1830, 1850, 1870
tools. Now the fish pays well, but there isn't fish anymore, back then there etc. Outside of the city, the transformation was even more visible. An
was plenty of fish but the fishermen were poor. Still, fishing is good, you have old Lipovan fisherman from Șfiștofca summarizes the situation in this
food on the table every day, but you never earn enough to save. This is life in
the Delta”. Apparently, the economic and social status of Lipovans im-
proved under communism, due to their tradition in fishing, but also, 4
Reportedly, the fishermen in Sfântu Gheorghe sent the Party around 300
tons of sturgeons annually (however, these numbers might have been artifi-
cially inflated, as were most of the production reports during communism).
3
Tulcea, the county seat, is seen as the entrance of the Delta, but not really Similar quantities were captured in the period 1997–1998 when the black
belonging to it. Also, due to a traditional symbolic competition between Sulina market was already developed (only less than 10% was officially reported).
5
and Tulcea and Sulina's strong sense of identity, most people consider that the http://www.obiectivtulcea.ro/razboiul-pentru-o-specie-pe-cale-de-
latter is “the only town of the delta”. disparitie-sturionii-din-delta-dunarii/.

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statement: “The sea has withdrawn and we remained here”.6 Șfiștofca, were fishermen who had nothing to do with fishing. After communism, they
that used to be a fishermen village by the sea, found itself stuck in mud, lost everything, while others became very well-off, built and bought houses,
15 km South from it. “A world was over, when that village disappeared. here, in Bucharest and elsewhere and sent their children to schools. Those
And now it's this new world, of Sulina”, says Iacob Halchin, talking nos- who made it were those who knew how to work and how to find fish. There
talgically about his native village, Șfiștofca. He remembers that up until was a natural selection, in a way. The difference is not just in how much one
the early '60s the village was still full of life, but then from 1965 is willing to work, but also in some kind of local knowledge: you need a
especially young people started to leave massively to find work in the certain intelligence to find fish. This is the difference between a good fish-
city “and suddenly the village was left empty”. Nowadays the exodus erman and a bad one”. In reality, most of the former several hundred
continues: “well, the children of those who left in the '60s-'70s now leave state fishermen found themselves slowly put out of their jobs. The Fish
from Sulina, because they were born here; they leave to Tulcea, Constanta, Factory, built by the communists in 1973, one of the main employers
Galați, București, and after the revolution, abroad”. In a context of con- (almost 500 persons in a town of approximately 4500 at the time) and
tinual mobility - of people, of governments, of landscapes, it is very the heart of the city, ceased its activity in 1993, when it went suspi-
difficult to find a solid structure, to settle for an accurate narrative, to ciously bankrupt. People relate this to the larger political context: “the
reconstruct a historical truth. People have diverse memories, and they selling of our fleet” (an obscure affair in which most of the Romanian
mix together epochs and details. It is in this context that locals started fleet, once specialized in ocean industrial fishing out the coasts of
remembering the good old times of CED, especially around the moment Africa, was presumably sold for small money as quashed) was one of the
of Romania's acceptance into EU (2007) which reinforced the narrative most painful narratives during the Romanian transition, a narrative
of the European destiny of Sulina. Nostalgic recollections of those times, feeding from the all-embracing theories of conspiracy, victimization
nurtured by more or less coherent narratives of the very few elders who and visceral nationalism. “It hurts my heart to see how it was destroyed,
have had a firsthand experience of CED, were filling the pages of tourist says a local informant who has worked in the factory since its con-
brochures and were on everyone's lips. However, nostalgia is not only a struction. That factory was built to last 300 years, and it only lasted 30. The
benign feeling, set off by autobiographical details, but tends to be building is still there, but it stands like a ghost, as a sign of futility”. Across
employed for political (in the large sense of the word) purposes. Nos- the Danube, in a neighborhood called Prospect, the old naval shipyard
talgia is connected to the present in that, as David Lowenthal argues, in of CED, which continued its activity during communism with over 500
some cases “both nostalgia and heritage rely on interpretations of his- employees, is now working with less than 100. Buildings, barns and
tory to compensate for a present malaise, for a lack of community and a deposits are consumed by rust and slowly degrade day by day.
need for identity in place” ([16]: 371). Moreover, mass media plays an After 1989, during the so-called post-communist transition, some
important role in feeding and exacerbating this nostalgia, by repeating, people have become poorer, some “made it” (especially if they worked
uncritically, the narrative of the good old times, usually in opposition slightly around the law), and most of those who made it were not from
with the bleak present, marked by poverty, sickness and decline. These the local community or were well connected with actors or money from
kinds of stories reinforce the marginality of the place and the exotic outside Sulina. In a sense, the history of post-communist Delta could be
image of “primitive life in the marshes of the Delta”. case in point for the transitions in Eastern Europe and the way the old
elites (nomenklatura) have used their political capital to gain econom-
4. The present: tensions, agony and conflicts ical capital in the new democratic context (see Refs. [19–21]. Jour-
nalists have been writing about the grand scheme of turning the com-
While Sulina seems to be, at first glance, an outlier, due to its his- munist fisheries/fish farms into huge agricultural lots. The farms were
torical exceptionality, it also shares with the general background of the given into concession for free to certain business men who subsequently
delta many specific features: ethnic heterogeneity, complex local power received state subventions for agriculture. Almost 40000 ha of fisheries
relations and ties with supra-local decisional actors, poverty, margin- from the Delta have become profitable agricultural lots. For a short
ality and the overwhelming feeling of isolation, despite seasonal while, in 2014, there was a law that forbad changing the destination of
tourism. Other localities in the territory of the Delta have had various territories in the Reservation. However, the law was quickly reformed;
paths of development. Maliuc, which was destined to an outstanding it only took a feasibility study and the agreement of the Local County.
fate during communism as “the city of science” and headquarters of an Plus, royalties for agricultural plots are bigger than those for fisheries: a
institute for the study of reed, “the green gold”, slowly degraded since win-win situation for the state, the Local County and the businessmen.7
the '70s until it became just a small village with a declining population. However, such information appears in the media, with no further
While some localities almost disappeared, due to a migrating or aging consequences or are discussed by locals, in a low voice, and only in safe
population (such as Șfiștofca, Letea or Caraorman), others seem to familiar contexts. Formal, and especially informal, power relations are
thrive, on the expense of tourism and not only. For instance, Sfântu very important at the local level and most people prefer to keep silent,
Gheorghe, a place traditionally notorious for fishing of sturgeons, is for their own sake.
now a fashionable destination for tourists, especially for the
Anonymous Film Festival, which takes place in August and attracts 4.1. Path dependence and problematic governance
rather young urban professionals. The fishermen community in Sfântu
Gheorghe was under a lot of pressure due to the 10 years fishing in- Quite soon after the demise of the communist regime, the delta
terdiction of sturgeons (indorsed in 2006), especially since almost all started a new life. Or so it seemed. However, in terms of path depen-
local families had at least one member in the fishing business (for a dence, there are still a series of historical legacies that have con-
suitable description of the current situation, see Refs. [17,18]. sequences to the current governance of the delta. The Danube Delta
Nowadays, almost three decades after the Revolution in 1989, Biosphere Reserve was founded by Government Decision No. 983/
Sulina is a small town, looking like a village, with a decreasing and 1990, covering 5800 square km. DDBRA is the only Management Body
aging population, struggling with unemployment and lack of opportu- directly subordinated to the ministry, with an annual budget from the
nities. Rules of the game were once again changed, and there were state and a special law that governs it. The DDBRA is led by a Governor,
winners and losers of the “transition”. One informant speaks about a appointed by the prime-minister, who has the position of state sub-
“natural selection” of fishermen: “During communism, the community of
fishermen was more cohesive. Also, there was still a lot of fish. And there
7
https://www.digi24.ro/special/campanii-digi24/romania-furata/romania-
furata-100-000-de-hectare-de-ferme-piscicole-abandonate-sau-cultivate-cu-
6
http://features.decatorevista.ro/noi-aici-suntem-universali. porumb-570903.

5
P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

secretary. Unfortunately, this situation translates into strong political “the overly strict character of formal rules of development only in-
influence on decisions and high instability ([8,9]: 1153). Lack of in- creases the importance of informal rules, of clans, networks, corruption,
tegration between executive and legislative branches, as well as trans- and of a closure in governance, a lack of participation and inclusion”
parency in relation with stakeholders further complicate the efficiency ([11]: 90). An anonymous online comment summarizes the situation:
of this institution ([8,9]: 1157; [22]: 1012). At the beginning of his “In the '60s, when the Delta belonged to fishermen and the legislation
mandate, in a press interview from April 2017, the newly appointed was not as aberrant and changing as today, the market was abundant
governor Mălin Mușatescu argued that the most important issue in the and the fish cheap. You could find mackerel and sturgeon, even black
Delta is the lack of control and state authority in the territory. “Delta is caviar. As the local units of fish processing in the Delta were quickly
a place very hard to control. […] It is very large. You need an army to bankrupted, now fishermen have to work for fake companies of people
have everything under control. But we do not have to invent hot water, who are hand in hand with the governor and probably have never seen
but to do what locals have been doing for hundreds of years: they lived the delta up close. Eventually, the fish will get on the market at an
in communion with nature and did not destroy it. What is happening exorbitant price”10.
now is owed to the fact that authorities have taken their hands off the The current governor (since 2017) of ARBDD, the ecologist Mălin
delta and let people live there in their own way. Obviously, if we apply Mușatescu, declared in an interview that fish has become the third most
the law that exists, we can have some order in the delta and people important stake in the Delta. The first consists in European funds for
must be helped to find a way of living, to live normally”.8 When the investments in the Delta, and the second in agriculture. The big players
new governor starts his mandate with this discourse of helplessness, in agriculture also use pesticides, fertilizers and other substances that
prospects are not very bright. No wonder that people commenting affect the quality of water and the fish. Tourism does not seem to play
anonymously online say that most of the post-1989 governors were an important role. At a first glance, all of these scripts take the locals
mere “caricatures” and “footmen”. out of the equation. Plus, the governor has a slightly condescending
In reviewing the recent history of how the Delta was perceived and tone when saying that “we have to help locals to access European
exploited, across political regimes, Dorondel and Mitroi argue that money. From out there, in the swamp, they do not know how to do
“before socialism, a clear rift existed between fishermen and the state: it”.11 At the same time, he makes pertinent declarations in favor of
the state perceived fishermen as those who disturbed the natural dy- protecting the local communities: “you cannot have a protected en-
namics of the Delta through their unsustainable fishing practices. […] vironment against 14.000 people. I do not support extreme punitive
The socialist regime radically changed this. The state made the fish- measures; they tend to not be applied. If we forbid people to fish and
erman part of the state. […] In postsocialist times, conservation policies they have no other subsistence strategies, they will fish anyway, with
established non- human priorities, restoring the presocialist rift be- the associated risks”.12 Apparently, everything revolves around the fish,
tween fishermen and the state. […] The development of the post- the dramatic overtones and apocalyptic depictions of the situation (“the
socialist nature state is no longer solely a national project but is also an Delta is dying”, “there is no more fish”) tend to place the responsibility
international one” ([23]: 205-6). Almost all supranational actors mili- and the blame on the locals' shoulders, while concealing or ignoring the
tate for a more inclusive participatory governance of the delta, on the huge impact that agricultural enterprises have had during communism
premise that “better citizen engagement is needed for more effective on environment, and the continuous negative effect the current former
conservation policies and to contribute to culturally driven behavioral fisheries have. In the end, the governor's discourse returns to the key
changes towards a sense of community responsibility” ([24]: 371). words in the governance of the Delta: rules, restrictions and Paradise:
However, in the case of the delta and its inhabitants, based on previous “What we need is coherent and feasible rules, but also additional re-
events and developments, “trust in administration, in scientists, in strictions. We cannot do without, if we want to save the Paradise”.13
participatory governance will be too low to allow for real participation This image of paradise, as seductive as it is, borrowing from the per-
when the opportunity does arise. Transparency, effective deliberation sistent concept of nature as strong, wild, self-regenerative, but also
and negotiation can be barely envisioned in absence of trust” ([25]: emphasizing the idea of a pristine, plentiful and unspoiled place, serves
178). Discourses about participation of locals tend to objectify the latter to legitimate conservationist discourses but hides a bitter truth: humans
and ignore the complexity of the category “locals” and the intricate were expelled from Paradise!.14 In the media, dramatic phrases such as
relationships among them. People identify at different moments with “there is one species struggling to survive in the Delta, which the
different, sometimes competing discourses, in a harsh and unstable
environment, marked by lack of trust, poverty and conflict.
10
Ecologists are usually suspected, as they seem to favor birds and fish https://adevarul.ro/locale/tulcea/cota-pescuit-s-a-dublat-pescar-delta-
over local people who depend on fishing for daily survival. As local dunarii-In-felul-acesta-obliga-folosim-unelte-mai-multe-mijloace-interzise-1_
fishermen phrased it “a pelican is allowed to eat 20 kilos of fish daily, and 5c360eb3df52022f756ae93d/index.html.
11
https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/sci-tech/natura-si-mediu/guvernatorul-deltei-
me and my family should cope with only 5 kilos. But they are protected and
acum-in-delta-pestele-e-cam-ca-intr-un-lac-din-jurul-bucurestiului-831102.
we are not”. The frustration is real and is growing day by day. In 2018, 12
http://www.obiectivtulcea.ro/malin-musetescu-guvernatorul-arbdd-nu-
there were additional restrictions for fishing. Pikes could only be fished poti-proteja-biosfera-fara-sa-ai-centrul-atentiei-omul/.
in a catch-and-release system, while for other species the rule of max- 13
http://www.rapitorimania.ro/articole/reportaj/delta-o-suma-nevinovata-
imum 5 kilos per family applied. Also, fishermen were obliged to keep a de-vinovatii-interviu-malin-musatescu-12344.
strict record of their fish, based on the receipt from the fishery. “We 14
The activity and efficiency of ARBDD has been under close scrutiny in the
only know how to fish, we are fishermen, not accountants!” they say. last years, with the local press visibly more critical than the central one. In
And then they add that the law “is a rope that horses jump over, dogs September 2018, an ex-deputy of Tulcea criticized harshly the activity of
sneak under and only bulls (i. e. stupid) get stuck in it. These measures ARBDD, naming it “futile”. “Danube Delta, from a sanctuary of nature, became
are for bulls. They will starve in the Danube Delta”.9 In other words, a latrine full of jackals (in all senses), with lakes and canals silted due to ARBDD
indolence, but most importantly without fish! Fishery owners import fish from
Greece and Hungary for the necessities of tourism. Every single post-communist
government has hidden the garbage of mass tourism under the reed and the
8
https://adevarul.ro/locale/tulcea/interviu-noul-guvernator-deltei-dunarii- NGOs have received money to keep their mouth shut. There are mountains of
Stiu-agenti-ecologisti-carora-s-a-dat-foc-casa-1_5900878a5ab6550cb8916fcf/ garbage in the Delta and nobody cares. […] Jackals have multiplied danger-
index.html. ously. ARBDD has become a state in state and its efficiency in these 28 years is
9
https://adevarul.ro/locale/tulcea/cota-pescuit-s-a-dublat-pescar-delta- absent. It has to be closed” (https://ziaruldetulcea.ro/un-fost-deputat-de-
dunarii-In-felul-acesta-obliga-folosim-unelte-mai-multe-mijloace-interzise-1_ tulcea-cere-desfiintarea-a-r-b-d-d-e-inutila-si-ineficienta-fac-doar-excursii-pe-
5c360eb3df52022f756ae93d/index.html. banii-statului/#more-25936).

6
P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

officials forgot about: humans!”15 speak about a more and more per- government officials and policy makers” ([25]: 173). To be fair, both
vasive local mood. People would whisper, bitterly, especially in remote ‘delta’ and ‘nature’ are terms that belong to the conservationist dis-
villages, that “they do not really want us here, the delta would be better course that the local population perceives as imported. A discussion of
without humans”. these elements (nature, delta) in terms of object formation might prove
Applying the methodology of fuzzy cognitive maps, Văidianu has illustrative for an understanding of the complexity of the situation and
tried to clarify the intricacies of stakeholders' views and interests in the the potential complications for the governance of the delta.
delta. She found that, surprisingly, for the visitors of the Biosphere If objects and subjects in EGT are the product of discursive evolu-
Reservation, this label had not influenced their destination choice, tions, the “delta” is definitely the product of the ecologist discourse,
many of them not being aware of this status ([26]: 1066). Most tourists with limited relevance to local people. The delta suggests some kind of
come to the delta attracted by the promise of a genuine encounter with unity, territorial and symbolic, but a unity seen from outside or from
a wild nature, but generally unaware of the restrictions and regulations above. The locals prefer the term ‘balta’, the swamp, suggesting a
associated with the idea of “natural reserve”. Sometimes, the ecological horizontal understanding of space. Balta itself is a complex term. On
knowledge and education of the general public is taken for granted, and one hand, balta is primarily seen as a common resource - for fishing,
DDBR does not have enough personnel to ensure that the regulations reed harvest, hunting, raising livestock, collecting wood for fire etc. It is
inside the reserve are observed and sanctions applied. Truth being said, also something that is out there, and has always been, accessible and
tourism is, for most of the locals, a hit-and-run strategy, making some free, and more than anything, familiar to any local; it is the guarantee of
untaxed money each summer. Tourists, in turn, expect infrastructure continuity and stability. On the other hand, ‘balta’ can be a pejorative
and “good acommodating conditions”, but rarely find them and the denomination (balta fishermen/băltăreți are somehow less than sea
typical holiday in the Delta is two-three days, in which they want to see fishermen), and in common language “de baltă” is something of low
everything. This puts an additional pressure on the environment, as quality or poor taste. Balta is the familiar and constant symbolic and
locals with speed boats do their best to satisfy these “fast-forward” material background of their existence, and whether they go into the
tourists and, in the absence of proper ecological education, everybody balta or “on the canals”, the locals would never say “we go into the
would close an eye on ecological restrictions. delta”. But they would say to tourists: “Well, do you like it here, in the
On the other hand, according to Văidianu's research, local people, delta?”. This emphasizes the duplicity in locals' current situation. While
unlike occasional visitors, are more interested in “fishing, tourism, li- it is safe to say that, for better or worse, the locals never really worried
vestock, health and safety. Although these elements have a strong im- about nature as a wild and exhaustible resource, these concepts were
print on the lives of local people, they do not see possibilities to control added to their speech by conservationist and ecologist discourses. After
or shape these forces” ([24]: 364). At the same time, the local popu- generations and generations in which nature, in the form of the balta,
lation is aware of the need to maintain the biodiversity drivers: pollu- has always been there, at the gate of their courtyard, and fish was a
tion, education, dams or development ([24]: 364). Nonetheless, here the daily safe menu, suddenly the locals become the villains and their
discussion is more complex than it might seem at a glance. Many local survival strategies - illegal.
people perceive the recent “eco” policies as foreign, since in the old Dorondel and Mitroi argue that “emphasizing scientific knowledge
times ecological awareness came naturally, out of a different man- and ignoring fishermen's traditional understanding of the Delta's
nature relationship. The leader of the local Lipovan community re- ecology represents one way in which the nature state came to exclude a
members: “in the old times, all fishermen were obliged to keep silent while certain population from using a natural resource, or at least to restrict
fishing. But now, with these big engines … […] You have to give nature a their right to use it. Fishermen of the Delta learn to fish from their
chance to revive, to regenerate: you fish specific amounts, specific species … fathers and forefathers –‘they were born in the boat’, many of them told
In the old times, the fishermen didn't let nature run its course, get wild, they us – and they have a knowledge passed from one generation to the
used to clean the swamp, dig channels, as uneducated as they were. It was other, central to which is a sophisticated understanding of the wetland
their job at stake. They were ecologists without even knowing it”. ecosystem in which they work and the ecology of the fish” ([23]: 203).
This section described, in terms of path dependence, how historical Now, this local knowledge is being questioned and mistrusted, and
legacies of mistrust in a harsh and insecure environment, traumatic locals find themselves criminalized; they feel ignored, mistreated and
experiences of marginalization and exclusion, conventional acceptance marginalized, and this only adds to an inherent lack of trust and co-
of decisions taken elsewhere, all impact the current mood of the local operation.
community. External institutions and actors are generally perceived as The swamp has traditionally been regarded as a resource: “every-
foreign and distant from the interests and needs of locals, local thing used to be from the swamp: house roof made from reed, reed was used
knowledge is not endorsed, and local participation not really en- as fuel…”; and local people still feel entitled to do so. “‘We have always
couraged. explored and maintained the delta for the advantage of the state’,
claims a fisherman, ‘now they [the state authorities] forbid us to enter
certain channels and to fish even for our families. Tourists who visit the
4.2. “Delta” and “nature”: a case in object formation
Delta will end up having more rights than we locals do” ([23]: 193).
Loved or not, tourists are pouring in, and they do not come to see the
Today, there is an increasing gap between image and reality, be-
balta or the poverty of the daily local life, but to admire the wilderness of
tween the representation of Delta as a paradise, in which people and
nature in the Delta. This encourages the objectification of these con-
animals leave together in a pristine state of nature - an image employed
cepts, as “part of an objective truth, established by scientific means”,
in tourism advertising, but also as a fantasy of ecologists and con-
followed by “the strengthening of discourse that the object is part of the
servationists - and the reality of a backward, poor, isolated, struggling
order of things, part of nature. It is the process that veils contingency,
to survive place, far away from any paradisiac bliss. All of these ten-
blinds the awareness that things could have been different, that objects
sions and conflicts, whether overt or potential, make the overall image
could have been constructed differently” ([2]: 31). Thus, the locals will
of the Delta extremely composite and they also complicate the gov-
only mention the balta when talking among themselves or when re-
ernance of the place. First of all, “people see nature conservation as
calling memories of past landscape (“It used to be so beautiful in the
reductive of spatial and cultural identity, brought about by an imposed
balta!”).
scientific discourse that is in turn hijacked by untrustworthy

5. Conclusions
15
https://ziaruldetulcea.ro/sacalii-terorizeaza-delta-deja-ataca-animalele-
din-curte-asteptati-sa-ne-atace-si-pe-noi/. For most of its history, the delta, a valuable asset and an attractive

7
P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

resource, has been the object of loose authority shared, in turn, by the lasting investment in the area), through the restrictive and author-
Ottoman and the Tsarist Empire. With CED, European know-how, vi- itarian rule of the communist administration which employed rather
sion and money have changed the appearance and the destiny of the invasive and exploitative management of local resources, to the current
mouth of Danube; however, even if, for almost a century, Sulina, the green regime, in which international pressure and know how is em-
fishermen village turned into cosmopolite urban center, has enacted a ployed in order to help save the Delta. The new jargon (ecology, con-
centripetal attraction on the area, it did not affect directly local gov- servation, nature protection) was appropriated by all the actors involved;
ernance of the Delta. Sulina during CED was, as such, a rather artificial however, the associated practices are perceived as foreign and re-
creation in terms of development; nowadays, although most people do strictive by the locals. A new image has surfaced, that feeds on the
not reflect on it critically, the collective remembrance of this Golden previous understanding of nature: that of paradise. It is repeatedly used
Age serves a crucial role in constructing a local identity and in pro- in tourist advertising, as well as in official discourse (see the Governor's
jecting a future. Also, it inflates the local pride and self-importance of phrasing above: “we need to save the Paradise”). However, this new
sulineni in an attempt to protect the city from the overall negative image concept implies not only that a place is savage, pristine, rich and
of the surrounding marshes. flawless, but also free of human intervention; or humans, for that
In terms of path dependence, it was the communist regime that had matter. This brings us back to the locals' fears that nature is more im-
the most significant impact with its policy of controlling and exploiting portant than people, and local culture is irrelevant and disposable. This,
the resources of the Delta, based on authoritative and centralized de- corroborated with a general lack of trust and minimum incentives for
cision-making. For most of the locals, this form of governance was not cooperation, a rejection of environmentalist pressure as alien and en-
experienced (or is not recalled) as forceful and alien; people were used demic corruption, is one of the many challenges of recent governance of
to ignoring whatever was coming from “the center”, at the same time the delta.
complying with its requirements, going about their own lives and Currently, it is difficult to pinpoint a rational and realistic re-
learning to keep their mouth shut (not to mention that for most of them, presentation of the problematic situation of the delta. Between the
the communist time was one of prosperity). Marginality and isolation overly dramatic discourses that deplore the disappearance of the fish
could have been experienced locally, in a positive way, as less control and the death of the delta, on one hand, and the nostalgic (and idea-
and more freedom. Following the demise of communism, the mixture of listic) recollections of “how things used to be”, on the other hand, it is
actors, discourses and stakes has complicated governance and produced very difficult to find a middle ground. One could argue that, in fact,
added confusion in the day-to-day lives of local people. The persuasive people in the region only reproduce a general societal (and sometimes
environmentalist discourse, supported by international actors and political) discourse, that opposes the good old times of communism
governmental policies, has arrived in the remote villages of the Delta as (when everyone had a good life, people were more or less equal, life
a set of regulations and interdictions that made life harsher than before. was predictable) with the present, when everything is marred by self-
The alluring opportunities of making quick and easy money during ishness, people follow their own interest, there is no trust and no co-
“transition” have encouraged corruption and have produced new social operation, no good intentions, no common ground. Of course, this can
inequalities, while reinforcing the lack of trust and the feelings of be translated also in a discussion of democratic deficit: people trust less
marginalization, in a place with already a long (sometimes traumatic) and less the government, the laws are oppressive for citizens and are
experience of seclusion. meant to be eluded, politics is dirty, politicians cannot be trusted, ev-
As discussed above in section 3, during communism, ecology was erybody is corrupt and change is not possible, nor is cooperation; par-
not a priority of the regime; the delta was managed with the aim of ticipation is futile, if not dangerous. Most local people are still reluctant
exploiting efficiently its resources, while for common people it re- to talk about the local political situation and the endemic corruption,
presented an exotic, wild and cheap destination. In terms of object although they do complain about their standard of living.16
formation, images and representations of the place as nature and delta The Danube Delta has been a challenge throughout its history, with
seem to overlap in both approaches. From an administrative point of all the perks and risks of a coastal position, at the intersection of em-
view, delta was seen as a boundless reservoir of natural goods available pires, commercial paths, and migration roads for birds, home of fish,
for exploitation (fish, reed) without additional concerns for their re- animals and people. The Danube River itself, with its route through the
generation; people were also included in this category, as the local heart of Europe, has been, in turn, a way in or a way out, a gate of
traditional communities of fishermen were turned into state employees. Europe or a closed door, connecting cultures or setting boundaries,
This image is informed by the idea of nature as self-regenerative, wild, while feeding fantasies of escape, under a totalitarian regime. The
rich and manageable. For inhabitants, as discussed above, delta itself is networks between land, river and sea, marshes and terrestrial zones, its
an artificial denomination, one that levels local differences and cultural coastal position, its function as a border (between countries but also
traditions; while nature means home, the familiar surroundings, and the between EU and non-EU), the ethnic heterogeneity, entangled history,
available resources that they feel entitled to use and consume, but also all have made the Romanian side of Danube Delta an interesting case
protect. For tourists, delta has been a wild natural place during com- study of problematic management. My analysis of governance in terms
munism, when housing conditions were very basic and limited, which of path dependence aims to describe its complexity, between competing
only added to the attractiveness of this place as exotic, primitive and discourses, contradictory interests and multiple stakes, arguing for a
free. Some of these notions also inform the current touristic image of grass roots approach, that reconsider the relevance of people's fears,
Danube Delta, but the idea of nature now has ecologist and conserva- desires and needs for good governance.
tionist undertones. Tourists come to see protected birds and areas and
are informed about the restrictions regarding fishing and accessing
certain routes in the marshes. Accommodation conditions are increas- Appendix A. Supplementary data
ingly better, with AC, Wi-Fi, fancy food and comfortable sleeping ar-
rangements. Pensions and hotels appear overnight and prices are sky- Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
rocketing during the season. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103522.
This overlapping of the concepts of delta and nature is also relevant
for understanding the complex and problematical governance of this
place. My paper discussed the main changes and challenges of gov-
ernance from the loose administration of foreign dominance (whether 16
For many years, I could not conduct interviews about the Fish Factory,
Tsarist or Ottoman, in the 19th century) to the constructive European mostly because its last manager who bankrupted it in the early '90s became the
government of CED (which also enacted the most visible and long post-communist Mayor of Sulina for several mandates.

8
P. Teampău Marine Policy xxx (xxxx) xxxx

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in the marshes: rigidity and flexibility in the governance of the Danube Delta, J.
Environ. Plan. Manag. 54 (8) (2011) 996–1018.
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Theory: an Introduction, Springer, Heidelberg, 2014. Delta Turning fishermen into outlaws, in: Wilko Graf von Hardenberg,
[2] Raoul Beunen, Kristof Van Assche, Martijn Duineveld (Eds.), Evolutionary Matthew Kelly, Claudia Leal, Emily Wakild (Eds.), The Nature State: Rethinking the
Governance Theory. Theory and Applications, Springer, Heidelberg, 2015. History of Conservation, Routledge, London, 2017.
[3] A. Lawrence, No personal motive? Volunteers, biodiversity, and the false dichoto- [24] Nataşa Văidianu, M.C. Adamescu, M. Wildenberg, C. Tetelea, Understanding public
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