Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems versus social entrepreneurial ecosystems, the case of Kanak fishermen

This article conceptualizes Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems (IEE) and shows how they differ from conventional entrepreneurial ecosystems centered on firm creation and economic growth. Focusing on Kanak fishing in New Caledonia, we examine an activity that is simultaneously a source of food security, a carrier of customary obligations and a site of commercial opportunity. Drawing on an ethnographic case study and comprehensive interviews with Kanak fishers, we analyze how customary norms, gendered divisions of labor and hybrid monetary and non-monetary exchanges shape fishing practices. The findings highlight how Kanak fishers reconcile commercial pressures with customary rules that protect marine resources, contributing to social value creation, self-determination and marine sustainability. We develop IEE as an ideal-typical configuration characterized by mixed embeddedness in customary and state institutions, shared stewardship of collectively owned resources and a strong alignment with Sustainable Development Goals related to life below water, life on land and poverty reduction. The study advances research on social entrepreneurship and Indigenous entrepreneurship and suggests that emerging markets for sustainably harvested seafood may offer new, though contested, avenues for Indigenous communities to leverage IEE for development on their own terms.