“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.     

Resource Development and the Perpetuation of Poverty in Rural Laos

ABSTRACT

Government efforts to industrialise and modernise the Lao economy through intensive resource development are having adverse effects on rural livelihoods as resources are degraded and access to limited land and natural resources has intensified. In one of the country's key river basins, Nam Ngum, a series of resource developments including hydropower, mining and agricultural plantations have modified the landscape over the last four decades. Uncoordinated resource developments are putting intense pressure on increasingly scarce natural resources and affecting the lives of people who are dependent on them. Economic diversification of rural households in Feuang District in the Nam Ngum River Basin has created significant discrepancies between the rich and the poor, yet all households remain primarily dependent on agriculture. Land is of enduring importance to rural livelihoods. National development intervention has failed to secure basic livelihoods for rural households.     

‘Where there is fish,is where I put my head’: Challenges of mobile fishers in Elmina fishing community in Ghana

Small-scale fisheries are crucial for improving livelihoods by providing fisher employment, and food security. As part of their work, fishers frequently move to different fishing communities to catch and trade in fish. This paper analyses the living circumstances of artisanal fishers and discusses their mobility patterns, lodging arrangements, and the difficulties they encounter as they carry out their work. This paper is based on a study that involved 385 artisanal fishers in the fishing community of Elmina in the Komenda Edina Equafo Abirem (KEEA) Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. The results show that there are not many suitable places to stay for fishers when they travel from home to other fishing locations, and the few places that do offer affordable lodging also lack toilets, bathrooms and drinkable water. The paper also reflects on the gendered dynamics of these and related issues of insecurity for women in this case study. District authorities whose economies are heavily dependent on fishing ought to collaborate with private housing developers and the state to build affordable lodging facilities with standard household amenities like water, toilets and baths in fishing destinations to address the housing issues faced by fishers while travelling.     

Imagining the borderlands: Contending stories of a resource frontier in Muang Sing

Muang Sing in Luang Namtha province, an administrative district of northern Laos bordering Myanmar and China, has been portrayed by the Lao government and international development agencies as a ‘poor’ rural region in need of development. To developers, Muang Sing's remoteness from major towns and the livelihoods of ethnic people such as the Akha in the uplands based on swidden agriculture and opium production characterized ‘poverty’. To address this rural poverty, state and development agencies devised land use zoning that would demarcate and regulate various land uses in line with a rural development plan for the district. This vision for regulated development began to go awry, however, as farmers and traders in Muang Sing launched their own rapid social and economic changes. In contrast to the official image of a backward rural district in need of outside assistance, this paper portrays farmers and local entrepreneurs of the Muang Sing borderlands as actively transforming their lives and agricultural landscapes. This paper challenges the official version of a remote, poor district untouched by regional trade through a focus on narratives of local people. Ethnographic research reveals the dynamic micro‐processes of agrarian transformation during recent decades to highlight the centrality of borderland people in reworking their lives and agricultural landscapes through cross‐border relationships in China.     

Shifting Tides,Complex Lives: The Dynamics of Fishing and Tourism Livelihoods on the Kenyan Coast

This article investigates the complexities of fisher livelihoods and their interactions with the tourism industry on the Kenyan coast, to better understand how the prospects for alternative livelihoods, such as tourism, reduce fishing pressure. Data were derived from a questionnaire of 123 households and 30 interviews. Results showed that fishers cover the whole socioeconomic spectrum and that the role of fishing in livelihoods is heterogeneous both between individuals and for individuals over time. The majority of fishers do not combine tourism and fishing simultaneously, but livelihoods are characterized by a process of moving in and out of various activities as opportunities present themselves. There was no evidence of systematic or permanent displacement of fishers as a result of tourism. Given that fishing is not only an occupation carried out by those with no alternatives, prospects for alternative livelihoods systematically reducing fishing effort, predicated on this assumption, are questioned.     

Jamaica bound? Marine resources and management at a crossroads in Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda is rapidly developing a tourism industry built around a marketed perception of a healthy marine and coastal environment. Yet economic indicators suggest that Antigua and Barbuda is overexploiting its marine resources, particularly its fish and coral reef communities. Although its marine resources remain relatively healthy, Antigua and Barbuda will jeopardise the ecological basis of its economic growth and sustainability if current exploitation rates continue. We compare the current situation and economic trends of Antigua and Barbuda's tourism and commercial fishery industries to those of Jamaica and other OECS member states. Jamaica is suggested as a cautionary example of the potential socioeconomic and ecological impacts caused by resource overexploitation and mismanagement within the various economic sectors. Antigua and Barbuda is at a crossroads. The 'Jamaica path' leads to large-scale resource depletion, fishery collapse, and a mass tourism industry that can operate independent of a healthy environment. Alternatively, it can pursue a path that seeks to conserve its marine resources. Antigua and Barbuda will be better able to protect its sustainability both for commercial fishing interests and its growing high-end destination tourism industry. To this end, Antigua and Barbuda has developed a network of marine-protected areas along the northeastern coast of Antigua, an area popular with both fishers and tourists.     

The Perception and Impact of Natural Hazards on Fishing Communities of Kutubdia Island,Bangladesh

Natural hazards lead to unexpected and often dire situations for people who have few resources and little control over the environment in which they live. Kutubdia, an island in the southeastern part of Bangladesh, experiences frequent natural hazards that impact the livelihoods of its people and put them in vulnerable situations. The research elaborated here is the result of 300 household surveys collected from persons in Kutubdia's fishing communities. The surveys investigated the perception and consequences of natural hazards on the fishing communities. The results indicated that the experience of natural hazards—cyclones, erosion, and flooding are examples—have increased over the years. Coastal erosion displaced seventy‐two (24 percent) fishers, forcing them to relocate their houses several times and imposing multiple challenges on their lives. Literacy was not associated with perceptions of environmental changes or changes in fishing. However, young fishers—less than forty years of age—perceived that environmental changes had affected fish catch more than their older colleagues.     

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.     

Emerging customs: Small-scale fishing practices in Aceh,Indonesia

Off the western coast of Sumatra among the islands of Pulau Banyak, fishing is the primary occupation for the men of Haloban. They are self-described “traditional” fishers, using low-tech gear and small boats to catch fish, octopus, lobster, and other sealife in the nearby coral reefs and mangroves. Women also regularly venture out into the deep mud of the mangroves to collect clams. Their efforts to extract livelihoods and subsistence from the reefs take place in an open-access commons with few formal institutions or enforcement mechanisms to regulate resource use. While explicit regulations and customary limitations on fishing in the coral reef commons are lacking, Haloban fishers improvise some common etiquette and practices that are adaptable to the shifting context.This case study presents Haloban fishers' use of the commons as situated practices, unarticulated and embedded within a complex social–ecological system. These practices reflect fishers' understanding of, and relationship with, their environment, and may represent a nascent form of local “rules-in-use”, informing behavior without direct social mechanisms for enforcement. This paper presents research collected using ethnographic methods, including participant observation at sea. As NGOs and government agencies work to craft management plans that share use of the reefs with tourism and conservation, a better understanding of actual resource use and fishing practice may inform more nuanced, adaptable, and truly “local” community-based management.     

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.     

Transnational mining corporations and sustainable resource‐based livelihoods in Sierra Leone

This paper draws from world‐systems and sustainable livelihoods approaches to analyze the connections between multinational exports of rutile (titanium oxide), diminished ecological resources and resource‐based livelihoods, and gendered household dynamics in a peripheralized mining region in Sierra Leone. The discussion focuses on how the extraction of mineral resources instigated by exogenous capital investors forces links to household transformation, particularly the vulnerability context of women. Using archival records and field survey data, the case study of rutile mining in southwestern Sierra Leone connects the low‐waged mining labour of traditional resource‐based subsistence communities and deepening marginalization of and financial pressures on women in mining households to global mineral markets. The study focuses on women's coping mechanisms that are embedded within traditional social networks in relation to an external intervention, a low‐tech mechanical cassava grater, intended to strengthen their livelihoods. It finds that the potential for this transformation is impeded by sociocultural, environmental and financial limitations.     

传统时期太湖流域的渔民及其生计

传统时期太湖流域的渔民群体分为陆上定居的兼业渔民(仍属农民身份)和水上流动的专业渔民,其生产与生活方式因水环境和鱼资源的分布而存在区域差异。太湖周边低地湖荡区的兼业渔民从事捕鱼的环境支持度和资源便利程度较高,渔业在农村副业序列中占有重要地位。东部河网地区水鱼资源欠丰,捕鱼技术简单,农民捕鱼生产的季节性和流动性较大。太湖上流动捕鱼的专业渔民生产技术高,具有规模化和互助性,构成自然捕捞商品鱼生产的主力大军。流动于东部内河上的专业渔民以单家独户生产为主,产量低收入少,缺乏互助合作。各类渔民共同具有的流动性和人口来源的复杂性,使其成为社会安全管理的重灾区,也是促成20世纪60,70年代政府彻底实施渔民上岸定居的重要原因。     

Winners and Losers in Marine Conservation: Fishers' Displacement and Livelihood Benefits from Marine Reserves

Marine reserves can create both benefits and costs to fishers. This article explores the perceptions of fishers in Kenya and Seychelles about displacement, spillover, and overall impacts of local marine reserves on their livelihoods. We test whether these perceptions are different among fishers from different geographic and socioeconomic conditions. Sixty-six percent of fishers had been displaced from marine reserves or coastal development and 90% believed they had caught fishes that spilled over from marine reserves. Poorer fishers in Kenya were both displaced from, and also felt like they benefited from, marine reserves. This highlights how people's experiences with marine reserves, both positive and negative, are affected by a range of social considerations that may not be incorporated in typical evaluations of ecological and economic marine reserve success.     

Existing Territories and Formalization of Territorial Use Rights for Moored Fish Aggregating Devices: The Case of Small-Scale Fisheries in the La Désirade Island (France)

Moored fish aggregating devices (MFADs) are used by small-scale fishers to access fish species difficult to harvest in large numbers. In the case of Guadeloupe (Caribbean area), the use of MFADs has increased considerably and this is causing congestion in these fishing areas and creating conflict between fishers. The aim of this article is to understand how informal fishing territories around the La Desirade Island were established and examine these territories through the lens of economic defendability theory. Results of semistructured interviews show that MFAD fishers display territoriality along MFAD tract lines forming quasi-privatized areas. Territoriality in this article is based on the following factors: the type of targeted resources, the cost of harvesting, the defending of territories, and the acknowledgment of territories by the fishing community. Conflicts and utilization of MFADs (overcapacity) have raised an opportunity to create co-managed legalized territorial use rights for fisheries.     

水电项目对越南硒圣河地区社会经济发展及环境保护的影响

硒圣河是湄公河的主要分支之一,其集水区地形条件和水资源量均对水电开发十分有利。此外,无论从物种多样性还是生物量来看,硒圣河水生生物资源非常丰富。鱼类是当地人们的重要食物来源,粗略估计鱼类物种数量可能在200-300种之间,目前具有详细记录的鱼类大约为120种。截至目前,从越南境内硒圣河上游至越-柬边界总共开发了6个水电项目,兴建了一座4A级硒圣调蓄水库。流经柬埔寨的硒圣河部分,依据发展规划将兴建3座水电站,即硒圣5号电站（硒圣1号电站以下）、硒圣3号电站、硒圣2号电站。硒圣河水电项目对区域（越南和柬埔寨）社会经济的影响体现在：为地处偏远和困难的集水区创造了新的能源资源,改善了交通系统和农村地区的生活条件。与此同时,这些水电项目也对该区域自然环境产生了重大影响。例如,改变了下游流动机理变化,导致下游河道淤积,对沿河生态系统也产生了一定影响。     

老挝森林覆被变化及其驱动力分析

森林资源是老挝分布最广和最重要的自然资源。基于老挝各省在1982、1992和2002年三个时段的森林覆被和土地利用现状数据,应用洛伦茨曲线和基尼系数对老挝森林覆被变化进行定性和定量的研究,并分析了老挝森林资源变化的驱动力及其主要因子的影响。结果表明老挝各类林地面积和分布结构都发生了相对变化:在面积总量变化上,下降最明显的是现存林地和其他林地,分别下降了3%和5.3%;而次生林地和长期农耕地分别增长了5.4%和2.1%;相对而言,其他非林地面积总量变化不大。在森林分布特点上,现存林地和其他林地的土地利用类型分布呈离散分布;次生林地、长期农耕地和其它非林地的土地类型分布趋向均衡。老挝森林覆被变化有其历史和社会发展水平限制等特殊性,它是老挝社会经济发展和人口增长等因素共同驱动的结果,但主要驱动力是老挝人民普遍的贫困及从事对社会和环境破坏极大的游耕或轮垦的农耕活动。     

西非海洋渔业资源非法捕捞现状和对策

海洋渔业(尤其是小型海洋渔业)为世界各地的沿海居民提供了重要的食物来源、就业、经济收入。西非临近海域是世界上海洋渔业资源最丰富的地区之一,在西非沿海地区数百万居民以捕鱼为生,然而,西非众多捕鱼区却是最贫穷的地区。在全球化不断推进的今天,非法捕捞已严重威胁到海洋生态系统安全。西非临近海域的非法捕捞问题尤为严峻。在整合相关文献资料的基础上,分析了非法捕捞的主要影响,并对西非地区的非法捕捞现状和问题进行了讨论,认为部分欧盟国家是非洲西部海洋渔业资源主要非法捕捞者,西方学者认为中国是西非地区主要的非法捕捞者是不符合事实的。非法捕捞的根本原因是持续的鱼类需求和捕捞活动缺乏控制。基于以上分析,提出了西非非法捕捞的应对措施,以期有助于解决西非非法捕捞问题。     

Closing the Gap Between Researchers and Policymakers: Lessons from the History of Fisheries Management in the United States

Increases in sea surface temperature have led to distributional changes in many commercially exploited fish species. These changes have already led to conflict over mackerel fisheries, arising from demand for fair resource apportionment and desire to manage the fishery sustainably. In order to develop adaptable management strategies for complex ocean fishery systems, policymakers and researchers must move beyond a reactive producer–consumer relationship to develop proactive, supportive collaborations. The history of U.S. national fisheries management is presented as an example of this transition. Building cooperative capacity over the last two centuries has lead to a more systematic understanding of the oceans, and has led to success in reducing the number of overfished stocks. Similar development of cooperation between policymakers and researchers on an international scale may be the surest way to develop management strategies adaptable enough to withstand challenges posed by future climate change.     

The impacts of environmental and socio-economic stressors on small scale fisheries and livelihoods of fishers in Ghana

Small-scale coastal fisheries are exposed to many stressors, such as poor governance, lack of alternative employment, overfishing and diseases. Stressors, in this context, constitute environmental and socio-economic changes or events at local, national or global levels making the fisheries sector or fishers vulnerable. Climate change is expected to compound the consequences of these stressors on fisheries and livelihoods. Identifying and understanding the effects of important stressors are imperative for building and organising appropriate capacity to adapt and, ultimately, for successful adaptation. However, how climate-related and non-climate stressors jointly affect small-scale fisheries is still to be fully explored. In this paper, we use case studies of three coastal communities in the Western Region of Ghana to gain insights into how multiple stressors combine to affect small-scale fisheries. The findings show that multiple stressors combine in complex ways, affecting fisheries-based livelihoods and the coastal landscape, vegetation and infrastructure. This suggests that any single stressor is just a part of a set of stressors that jointly affect small-scale coastal fisheries. This study proposes that the effects of climate-related stressors are better comprehended when analysed in light of the synergetic effect of multiple stressors. It has the potential to guide policy-makers and managers in designing and implementing improved strategies to enhance adaptive capacity in response to climate change. Moreover, this knowledge can present an opportunity and justification for solving other inherent developmental problems through climate change adaptation policies and actions.     

How does the ownership of land affect household livelihood pathways under conditions of deagrarianization? ‘Hanging in’, ‘stepping up’ and ‘stepping out’ in two north Indian villages

In rural parts of the global South, livelihoods are diversifying away from agriculture. Nevertheless, agriculture typically still remains the backbone of rural life and is usually considered the prime source of economic security, social prestige and self‐identity. The task of narrating these somewhat contradictory processes in a conceptually coherent fashion has proven a major challenge for research. This paper responds to this problem by deploying an adapted version of Andrew Dorward's schema of households ‘hanging in, stepping up or stepping out’ of their landed interests. Dorward's middle‐ground theory provides an appropriate analytical vehicle for capturing the vagaries and situated complexities of the land‐livelihoods nexus. However the theory fails to fully appreciate the extent to which household livelihood decision making rests on complex entanglements that leverage land‐based and nonfarm activities against one another. We demonstrate the critical importance of these processes through the results of in‐depth interviews with 32 households in two north Indian villages. These interviews lead us to propose that land factors in livelihood aspirations in three fundamental ways: an arena for interpenetrated agrarian and nonagrarian livelihood streams; a base for social reproduction; and a bulwark of food (and by extension, livelihood) security through own‐production capabilities.