ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 presented a counterfactual story to explain how adoption of Northwest Coast institutions might have led to a different structure for the coastal economy. Since that story did not occur, it actually proves very little about the potential contribution of those institutions to the resilience of actual economies. This chapter presents a case study demonstrating that the presence of one part of the Northwest Coast system, by itself, can contribute to moving toward resilience
Because humans are so important in ecosystems containing them, understanding resilience requires analysis of human institutions. To be resilient, an ecosystem requires mechanisms, institutions or processes that bring the system back to normal conditions when it strays far from those conditions. In response to an extreme shock or a series of small decisions that create problems, more resilient ecosystems are able to absorb larger perturbations without changing primary structures and processes. In a dynamic system with an adaptive cycle, a resilient system perpetuates the current cycle.
