Under WP1.2 we will identify the diversity of cultural practices and uses of cones historically or currently harvested in Polynesia (e.g. crafts, collection, domestic, etc.) and quantify them within a comparative framework with respect to study site and sociocultural community. We will also conduct focused ethnography aimed at ascertaining the sociocultural linkages to marine resource management, and the perceptions of issues or challenges to cone use identified by local inhabitants.

Noting the historical role of women in shell exploitation, we will pay attention to the intersection of gender, ethnicity and post-colonial histories in order to depict how marine resource extraction is understood, how it has been experienced over time, and how the exploitation of cones may affect local communities in both expected and unanticipated, non-obvious dimensions. Using and an ethnographic toolkit and small group sessions, stakeholders and their institutions, we will seek to better understand the dynamics of interaction, coordination, and conflict in which this new uses of cones will emerge (link with WP4 Transfer process).

Finally, we will develop a focus on the gendered dimensions of stakeholder dynamics, which may differ from site to site, as a key facet of community level equity and concern

Under WP1.3, we will investigate the pragmatic politics of the development of a new sustainable use of cones with sensitivity to local, territorial, national, and regional scales. We will identify and investigate existing governance dynamics and, through ethnographic methods we will research the development of innovative governance mechanisms well-suited to the diverse contexts of local communities. The key question which we seek to answer is what innovative governance mechanisms and institutional arrangements are needed to foster a sustainable use of cones under the prism of ABS and ESIA in French Polynesia. Therefore, the analysis will focus on public policy instruments, reference systems, and action registers available to orchestrate the use of conotoxins, by analyzing them against sustainability (questions of definition, of implementation within specific group contexts such as marine scientists, environmental managers, indigenous communities, and pharmaceutical industry actors). Similarly, fisherwomen(men), and administrators within municipal institutions such as mayors and their administrative staffs will be interviewed to grasp their adaptative capacity to develop and support new economic and administrative structures and practices necessary for the sustainable exploitation of cones. The themes of the interviews will deal with: learning, organizational interactions, leadership, responsibilities and incentives (Plummer and al. 2012).