THE EXTRAORDINARY AND THE EVERYDAY IN EXPLANATIONS OF VULNERABILITY TO AN OIL SPILL

ABSTRACT. Losses from an oil spill in 1992 differed substantially among coastal resource users on the Malaysian island of Langkawi. Even among the small-scale fishers, those generally considered to be the most vulnerable to such an event, losses varied significantly. This investigation of vulnerability examines causes for the distribution of losses, including fishers' ability to mediate their exposure to risks and the variety of coping strategies they adopted. Explanations for differences in vulnerability are found both in the everyday interactions of processes shaping vulnerability and in the ways in which the “extraordinary” circumstances of a disaster alter those everyday processes.     

Fishing in the Amazonian Forest: A Gendered Social Network Puzzle

We employ social network analysis (SNA) to describe the structure of subsistence fishing social networks and to explore the relation between fishers’ emic perceptions of fishing expertise and their position in networks. Participant observation and quantitative methods were employed among the Tsimane’ Amerindians of the Bolivian Amazon. A multiple-regression quadratic assignment procedure was used to explore the extent to which gender, kinship, and age homophilies influence the formation of fishing networks. Logistic regressions were performed to determine the association between fishers’ expertise, their sociodemographic identities, and network centrality. We found that fishing networks are gendered and that there is a positive association between fishers’ expertise and centrality in networks, an association that is more striking for women than for men. We propose that a social network perspective broadens understanding of the relations that shape the intracultural distribution of fishing expertise, as well as natural resource access and use.     

Socio‐economic and ecological challenges of small‐scale fishing and strategies for its sustainable management: A case study of the Old Brahmaputra River,Bangladesh

Socio‐economic and ecological challenges faced by the small‐scale fishers dependent on the Old Brahmaputra River, Bangladesh are assessed using a combination of questionnaire survey, co‐monitoring of fish catch, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Results reveal that the fishers are involved in professional, seasonal or subsistence fishing. Fish catches from the river have declined significantly because of overfishing, destructive use of fishing gear, water pollution, siltation, rapid urbanization and human encroachment, thereby threatening the health of the river ecosystem as well as the future of small‐scale fishing. We evaluate various social, economic and ecological challenges faced by the fisher communities. We propose a conceptual framework that recognizes linkages among social, economic and ecological aspects in devising a sustainable river fisheries management system. We recommend effective legal enforcement of policies and regulations, strong institutional collaboration and active fisher community participation in management to ensure sustainable use of the resource base.     

Local Perceptions of the Sustainability of Alaska’s Highly Contested Cook Inlet Salmon Fisheries

Using a mixed set of ethnographic methods including interviews and a structured survey, we evaluate local perceptions about the sustainability of salmon fisheries among fishers of the Cook Inlet region of Alaska. A majority of residents report participating in these fisheries, but we find significant disagreement about their sustainability. Household income and the types of fishing practiced both influence people's responses, and many implicated specific user groups for overharvesting and/or for receiving unfair catch allocations. Drawing on the theoretical areas of information theory and political ecology, we argue that these findings reveal a complex interplay among the practical, social, and political aspects of how local resource users, or “local experts,” develop and communicate their assessments of ecological conditions in a context of conflict. We conclude with notes on future research as it relates to the successful design of local-management and co-management solutions, especially in settings where resources are contested by stakeholders.     

“Losing at Sea,Winning on Land”: A Case Study of Philippine Small-Scale and Industrial Fisher Resource Competition

In Southeast Asia, resource competition causes conflicts between small-scale and industrial fishers. This article focuses on interactions between small-scale and industrial fishers and the power dynamics that are expressed through their behaviors. Taking a Philippine fishing village as a case, this article shows that even under conditions of severe resource competition and in a context of antagonistic relationships, small-scale fishers may choose, as a survival strategy, to collaborate with illegal industrial fishers. It demonstrates that accounting for power differentiations and dynamics among actors is key to understanding this seemingly contradictory collaboration, one that will likely result, over the long run, in negative consequences for the sustainability of small-scale fishers’ livelihoods. In order to effectively control industrial fishers and mitigate conflict with small-scale fishers, better understanding of social–economic and sociopolitical relations is required.     

珊瑚礁连通性研究进展

综述了国外近20 a珊瑚礁连通性的研究简史,总结了珊瑚礁连通性研究的方法,阐述了"珊瑚礁连通性"的研究对珊瑚礁生态系统管理的重要意义。中国的珊瑚礁连通性研究刚起步,离国外还有很大差距,今后应加强珊瑚幼虫扩散路径、珊瑚群体内(群体间)遗传分化、遗传距离、基因流的研究,对我国海域珊瑚幼虫扩散的走廊加以保护。     

Fluid territories: Rethinking state territorialisation in Palk Bay,South Asia

The study objective was to gain a better understanding of the transboundary fishing conflict between Indian trawl fishers and Sri Lankan small-scale fishers in Palk Bay using a relational approach to territoriality. The authors employed different ethnographic methods, including open, structured, and semi-structured interviews, and performed a media analysis in order to understand the everyday practices of Indian trawl fishers within the wider geopolitical context of a 30-year war in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The relational approach moves away from seeing cross-border fishing merely as an act of counter-territorialisation. The results revealed that the cross-border fishing underlying the crisis has largely resulted from a complex network of changing relationships between on the one hand Indian trawl fishers and India, and on the other hand Sri Lankan state agencies and Sri Lankan fishers, resulting in a porous international maritime boundary. The authors conclude that this in turn has resulted in a fluid international maritime boundary line.     

A Sense of Place in Cultural Ecosystem Services: The Case of Cornish Fishing Communities

Fishing communities in Europe are facing significant challenges due to policy measures aimed at reducing fishing effort in order to cope with the “crisis” in key stocks. While it is imperative to ensure sustainability of the resource, such policies may overlook the contribution of fisheries to the social and cultural well-being of coastal communities. This article explores the contribution that sense of place can make to understanding the relationship between fishing and cultural ecosystem services, drawing on case studies from Cornwall, southwest England. Through semistructured interviews with fishing community stakeholders we outline how fishing contributes to sense of place in terms of individual and community identities, as well as a particular place character associated with the physical presence of fishing. We suggest that a co-constructionist account of the relationship between sea and land can provide a starting point for understanding the cultural landscape that emerges as a result of fishing.     

OpenStreetMap and Food Security: A Case Study in the City of Philadelphia

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is an online public access database that allows for the collaborative collection of local geographic information. We employ this mapping technology to discuss a new social theory of poverty that moves away from income poverty to an economy that directly produces individuals' basic needs. Focusing on urban farming in Philadelphia as an example, we use OSM to support the argument that money, land, labor, and capital do not limit food production in the city. OSM is a type of “commons” that allows community members to depict features of interest to them that might otherwise be underrepresented in official or commercially produced maps such as Google Maps. Using the concept of facilitated volunteered geographic information (VGI) we developed an open framework for combining residents' local knowledge of food resources with expert guidance in data input. We believe this helps overcome problems with ad hoc data submission efforts to which collaborative online projects are susceptible. The program for “tagging” food resources in OSM was deployed in a public “map-a-thon” event we organized in Philadelphia, bringing together technical experts and food enthusiasts. To share the results, we present the Philly Fresh Food Map as an interactive online Web map that can be used and updated by the public.     

南海珊瑚礁经济价值评估

根据已有的基础数据、国外文献资料及野外调查资料,利用生产效益法和数值转移法估算南海珊瑚礁的经济价值（包括渔业经济价值、海岸保护价值、旅游休闲价值、生物多样性价值）以及由于过度捕捞、破坏性捕捞和陆源沉积物污染而造成其经济价值的损失。结果显示：南海珊瑚礁年经济价值为156.5亿元,其中渔业价值占90%,为140.4亿元;其次是海岸保护价值,占5.5%,为8.7亿元;而旅游休闲价值和生物多样性价值分别为5.3亿元和2.1亿元。珊瑚礁如果维持可持续利用的状态,并考虑10%的贴现率,未来20 a珊瑚礁总的经济价值为1 370亿元。由于南海珊瑚礁面临最大的威胁是人类不合理的利用,其对今后20 a珊瑚礁带来的经济损失是258.8亿元,其中因破坏性捕捞造成的损失为249.6亿元,占总经济价值损失的96.4%,而因过度性捕捞和陆源沉积物造成的经济损失分别是3.3亿元和5.9亿元。人类干扰对今后20 a南海珊瑚礁造成的经济价值损失占未来20 a南海珊瑚礁总经济价值的18.98%。     

当前我国湿地保护中存在的问题和保护建议

基于我国对湿地的认知变化及保护历程,结合第二次全国湿地普查结果,分析当前我国湿地保护中存在的主要问题,并提出针对性建议,主要包括:落实保护红线、创新保护格局;完善法律法规、推进湿地保护绩效考核;实施生态补偿机制、提升湿地造血功能;加强科技支撑及人才建设、建立智能管理体系;宣扬湿地文化,推进社会主流生态价值观形成等。     

Where Have All the Beaches Gone? Coastal Erosion In The Tropics

From a physical geography perspective, tropical coasts are characterised by coral reefs, mangroves and carbonate beaches on atolls and low reef islands. They face threats not only from sea level rise, but also from human activities that destroy mangroves, degrade coral reefs and accelerate beach erosion. Physical conditions in the tropics are suitable for the ideal tourist beach. Conceptually, the tourist coast can be considered as the integration of a physical system (the coast) and a human system (tourism). Studies have been carried out on various types of tourist coasts in Southeast Asia. For many atoll island states, sea level rise is more than just a threat to their tourism; it also determines their survival. In recent years, assessments of their vulnerability and adaptation have favoured a more integrative approach of physical and human sciences. Hopefully, this should result in a better analytical tropical geography that could play an important role in reducing coastal erosion and assist the small island states.     

The battle over the commons in port cities

ABSTRACT

The zone of intersection between land and sea within an urban context has long been viewed as a special type of urban commons. The well-researched port-city interface, however, tells a rather tragic story about the use and management of this valuable resource. This study asks how four major regulatory-institutional issues in the interface – land ownership, activities allowed in port area, planning autonomy, and public access – affect the ability of ports and cities to preserve elements of “commons” in urban coasts? Furthermore, it assesses if and how Elinor Ostrom’s principles for overcoming commons-related tensions, could contribute to the management of port-city conflicts over land-uses in the Mediterranean urban coastline and the various questions that may derive from such an application. For these purposes the study combines a comprehensive literature review with the analysis of planning regulation and in-depth, semi-structured interviews of key-stakeholders in seven port cities across three Mediterranean countries. The common experience in these different cases suggests that through a strategy involving scaling-down spatial decisions or governance, and built-in mechanisms for spatial cooperation, ports and the cities that host them can find a new joint path, which will strengthen local synergies and the quality of urban, public space.     

“规土融合”的技术体系、管理模式创新及发展展望——以武汉市为例

在"多规合一"发展的背景下,以武汉为例,聚焦城市规划与土地利用规划融合("规土融合")在地方层面的实施路径与发展目标。系统梳理了其在体系结构、技术语言、信息平台等方面的技术革新策略,同时概括出管理模式创新中协调成本内部化、转变政府角色、倡导交往理性、加快接轨市场等有益尝试。此外,强调武汉实践中"两规"与"规-土"的内涵差异,丰富对规划融合发展目标的认识,以期为相关地方实践带来有益启示,也为宏观规划体系改革提供自下而上的思考视角。     

徐闻县西部珊瑚礁的分布与保护

雷州半岛属热带北缘季风气候,沿岸海洋属热带海洋,生长浅水造礁石珊瑚,但只有雷州半岛西南部沿岸形成珊瑚礁,是中国大陆(不含岛屿)沿岸唯一的礁区.主要为岸礁,有个别为斑礁.徐闻县西部沿岸有16段珊瑚礁,初步统计总长约37.5 km,面积30.1 km2.由于人类不当的开发导致珊瑚不断死亡,珊瑚礁生态退化.现已成立的珊瑚礁自然保护区,应予加强管理.海水养殖珍珠与珊瑚礁自然保护事业是可以协调发展的.     

Actor-Based Design of a Management System for the Elephant Marsh Fishery in Malawi

In Malawi, fishing community user groups known as beach village committees, traditional chiefs, government officers, and fishers are the key players in fisheries management. Fish catch trends at the Elephant Marsh Fishery in southern Malawi are declining. Based on interviews and participant observation, this article uses an actor-based framework (known as Action-in-Context) to unveil the issues that are crucial in devising a sustainable governance system for the fishery. We establish and propose that the key social variables for the design of a three-pillared (locally based, weak, and amorphous) resilient institution for sustainability of the Elephant Marsh Fishery are (i) the social reputation of the leaders of local fishery institutions (beach village committee leaders), and (ii) the power dynamics between traditional chiefs and these local fishery leaders. We end the article by exploring the implications of the findings on the sustainability of the fishery under rising resource pressure.     

Samar i R ros-traktene

The article explores whether marine biodiversity mappings can contribute to the mapping of the material basis of Sami culture. Four different mapping practices are analysed in the article, all related to the seascape in the Lyngen fjord (Lyngenfjorden) in northern Norway. Initiatives undertaken by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries and the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) to map cod spawning grounds, and by the Sami Rights Commission (SRC) to map customary use of a fjord are compared with local fishing practices. Although the seascape was initially mapped to find spawning grounds (the IMR and the Directorate) and to record social practices (the Directorate and the SRC), the outcomes also express social relations between the mappers and the mapped materials. Whereas the mappings that included fishermen's relations with fishing grounds are compatible with each other, the marine scientists' mapping documented biodiversity independent of local relations with it. The author argues that the marine environment should be seen as expressing social relations between groups of people and certain materialities instead of as separated in natural and social layers. Thus, even though marine biodiversity mapping practices reveal biodiversity in Sami settlement areas, they inform little about the material basis of Sami culture.     

PUBLIC MEMORY AND POLITICAL POWER IN GUATEMALA'S POSTCONFLICT LANDSCAPE

ABSTRACT. Landscape interpretation, or “reading” the landscape, is one of cultural geography's standard practices. Relatively little attention, however, has been paid to reading landscapes transformed by insurgency movements or civil wars. Those landscapes can tell us a great deal about past and present political and social relationships as well as continuing power struggles. Guatemala presents a complicated postwar landscape “text” in which the struggle for power continues by many means and media, including how the war is portrayed on memorials, and in which the Catholic Church and the military/state are the two main competing powers. This essay explores some of the images and the text presented in Guatemala's postconflict landscape through contrasting landmarks and memorials associated with the country's thirty‐six‐year‐long civil war that formally ended in 1996.     

珊瑚礁海水pH变化及其对海洋酸化的意义

珊瑚钙质骨骼δ11B重建的海水pH时间变化序列显示：珊瑚礁海水pH的长期变化具有显著的年际―年代际波动周期,并且这些波动是区域海洋气候过程和珊瑚礁海水生物活动共同作用的结果。珊瑚礁生态系统中的生物活动（光合呼吸作用和钙化作用）控制着海水碳酸盐系统的组成,调节着海水pH的变化。这一过程在全球气候环境变化和区域海气过程的影响下,一起作用于珊瑚礁海水pH的变化,因而使得不同海域的珊瑚礁海水对海洋酸化的响应有所差别。研究珊瑚礁生物活动在长时间尺度上对海水pH的作用对认识珊瑚礁海水酸化机理十分重要,同时也是了解珊瑚礁生态系统如何响应海洋酸化的重要手段。     

Road investment as enabling local economic development? Evidence from a rural Philippine fishing village

This paper investigates how efforts to achieve local economic growth conflicted with long‐term sustainable resource use when road accessibility was improved between a supply area – the households and household firms in a Philippine fishing village, Dinahican, previously hampered by very poor transport conditions and accessibility – and its major market. Findings indicate that improved road access to big fish markets stimulated investment in production enhancing inputs, which allowed increased fish landings and sales outside Dinahican, together with employment and incomes. At the same time, poorly implemented fisheries resource management resulted in overfishing in municipal waters and obvious disparities in access to productive resources. Thus, while road investment in relatively inaccessible rural resource rich areas may spur economic development as an underutilized production potential is released, it can facilitate resource depletion and intensify an unequal distribution of benefits if the enforcement of laws and regulations is lacking. In the case of Dinahican, coordination between infrastructure supply and the implementation and enforcement of fisheries resource management is found to be urgently needed.