WhiteHorse Storyboard Painting. In Art of Science

Caption: Clam Diggers Working the Great South Bay, Long Island, NY Participant category: Faculty/Scientist Department: Urban Studies and Planning The Great South Bay "StoryBoard Painting" is a form of research communication that sets the stable for discussion about the theory and practice of Bioregionalism. I co-owned and operated the White Horse bay boat featured in the painting foreground with a partner of mine for many years as clam diggers on the Great South Bay (Long Island, NY). My experience on the bay as a workspace fired up my lifelong interest in the use and management of common-pool resources. With conservation practices in place for harvesting clams, the bay kept many people (young and older alike) gainfully employed for decades. Sadly, red tide (suffocating algal blooms) and other forms of ecosystem degradation have decimated the Bay’s clamming industry. The loss is not only economic (loss of jobs), it is also a loss of culture and tradition. A diverse group of concerned citizens, clam diggers, local government agencies, business people, conservationists, and others have been working hard on various restoration initiatives, with mixed results. Some very hopeful signs have been dashed by ongoing red tide events, and the difficulties diverse groups face when trying to collectively establish viable common pool resource management/governance practices). The painting is a storyboard in so far as it provides a visual for celebrating the benefits historically provided by the Bay (clams, healthy livelihood). And it prompts discussion of what it can be in the future if reclaimed --coupling human and natural systems in resource-conserving ways. Note we dug the clams with tongs by hand without large mechanical fossil fuel-driven dredges. This was by design. Digging using human labor power alone is a resource-conserving, regenerative ecosystem approach to harvesting clams. Fossil fuel-powered dredging floods the market with clams, causes prices to drop while damaging the bay bottom and the sustainability of clamming as an industry. The White Horse is long gone now, its old wooden planks part of the earth again –it was built in 1922. In this storyboard painting, the White Horse in the sky symbolizes robust living biopower (horsepower). Humanpower is what clam diggers used to harvest the clams in this period (1970s). Common pool resource conservation by an intentional restriction on the type of power and technology used in harvesting resources is an artform in regulatory innovation. This image celebrates the value of human power as an element in a sustainable and regenerative approach to common-pool resource management.

说明：在纽约州长岛大南湾作业的采蛤人
参与者类别：教职人员/科研人员
部门：城市研究与规划系

《大南湾“故事板画作”》是一种研究传播形式，为生物区域主义（Bioregionalism）的理论与实践讨论搭建了平台。我曾与一位搭档在纽约州长岛大南湾以采蛤为生多年，共同拥有并运营了这幅画作前景中呈现的“白马号”湾畔渔船。我将这片海湾作为作业场所的经历，激发了我对公共池资源（common-pool resources）利用与管理的终生兴趣。

在实施蛤类捕捞保护措施的前提下，数十年来这片海湾让无数男女老少都能获得稳定的有酬工作。令人遗憾的是，赤潮（red tide，即令人窒息的藻华）与其他多种生态系统退化形式已严重重创了该海湾的采蛤产业。这种损失不仅体现在经济层面（失业问题），更是文化与传统的流失。

由关切民众、采蛤人、地方政府机构、商界人士、环保主义者等组成的多元群体，一直在大力推进各类生态修复举措，但最终成效参差不齐。持续爆发的赤潮事件击碎了不少极具希望的进展，而多元群体在尝试共同建立可行的公共池资源管理/治理规范时也面临诸多困境。

这幅画作之所以堪称故事板，在于它以视觉化方式赞颂了这片海湾在历史上带来的种种福祉——蛤类资源与健康的生计。同时它也引发人们思考：若以资源节约的方式实现人类与自然系统的耦合修复，这片海湾未来可以呈现怎样的面貌。

需说明的是，我们当时采用手持蛤钳手工采挖蛤类，并未使用大型化石燃料驱动的机械挖蛤船。这是我们有意为之的选择。仅依靠人力采挖蛤类，是一种符合资源节约理念、可实现生态再生的捕捞方式。使用化石燃料驱动的挖蛤作业会导致市场蛤类供过于求，压低收购价格，同时破坏海湾底床生态，损害采蛤产业的可持续发展能力。

“白马号”早已不复存在，其老旧的木质船板已重归大地——这艘船建造于1922年。在这幅故事板画作中，天空中的“白马”象征着强劲的活体生物动力（horsepower，即马力）。在这个年代（20世纪70年代），采蛤人正是依靠人力完成蛤类捕捞作业。

通过有意识地限制捕捞资源时使用的动力类型与技术手段，以实现公共池资源保护，这本身就是一种监管创新的艺术形式。这幅作品赞颂了人力作为公共池资源可持续、再生性管理路径中的核心要素所具有的价值。