Maritime Studies最新文献

Local environmental stewardship supports resilience of social-ecological systems through a wide range of actions that benefit both environmental and human wellbeing. Stewardship actions of harvesters have been recognized as an important component in building adaptive capacity of coastal fisheries undergoing change. In Southeast Alaska, where commercial fishing plays a key role in cultures and economies, concerns for local fisheries have arisen from declines in salmon returns, high price variability, and barriers to participation, among other issues. Here, we aimed to understand existing and potential pathways for stewardship actions of small-boat commercial fishers in Juneau, Alaska. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 commercial fishers, agency staff, and leaders of seafood associations to document fisher-led stewardship actions and ways that small-boat commercial fishers engage formally and informally with local management, explore the role of fishery management agencies in facilitating collaboration and communication with fishers in the Juneau area, and understand local perspectives on how the stewardship capacities of the fishery system can be better supported. We found that multiple pathways for stewardship exist in commercial salmon and shellfish fisheries, including formal and informal interactions with state fishery management staff and decision-makers, participation in fishing associations and advocacy organizations, knowledge sharing among fishers, and taking personal conservation actions to care for fisheries. We identified areas of relatively low social, financial, and institutional capital that may limit the effectiveness of these stewardship actions. Our findings highlight diverse perspectives of fishery participants on how these stewardship actions might be better supported through policy, advocacy, and collaboration.

Local fish markets play a crucial role in meeting local and regional demand for seafood. However, the underlying social and local processes determining price formation in these markets still need to be clarified. Through ethnographic research of an artisanal fishing community in central Chile focused on the common hake catching (Merluccius gayi gayi), we found that mutual observation and negotiation are the two key social processes of the local economic order. These processes produce two local structures: (a) the fishers’ maritime cliques in the sea and (b) the chain structure in the cove, which combines commercial and community relationships to determine market prices.

Abstract

This article analyses the role of small-scale fisheries in the era of crises that increase fisheries’ vulnerability. Crises may also trigger a reconsideration of the value of small-scale fisheries. Thus, our main research questions are twofold: 1) How do the recent crises directly affect small-scale fisheries? and 2) What are the opportunities for reinventing the societal and environmental benefits of small-scale fisheries? Answers to the research questions are based on a selection of interviews, email inquiry, research articles and reports in the context of Finnish small-scale fisheries. By focusing on these fisheries, operated in a Northern European welfare state, we study the potential that the new turbulent and uncertain circumstances could lead to acknowledgement of the multifunctional character of small-scale fisheries. The results show that climate change, Covid-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine have challenged the resilience of Finnish small-scale fishing livelihood, albeit moderately. The prospects for new policies triggered by these crises stem from acknowledgement of small-scale fisheries’ contribution to food security, environmental benefits and short supply chains. The best way to secure fish-based food security and sustainability during crises, is to keep the fishing sector and the production and distribution chains vital in normal conditions. We conclude that in a society like Finland the rediscovery of small-scale fisheries’ future necessitates wide societal and political discussion about the pros and cons of the livelihood, together with inclusive governance that recognizes the multifunctional roles of small-scale fisheries in the era of crises.

This paper discusses a case study located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Kutch in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Specifically the paper explores the major characteristics of small scale fisheries practiced by the Muslim Wagher community and investigate the challenges and dilemmas faced by them in their pursuit of a livelihood in fisheries. Wagher fishers have occupied the lowest rungs in local continuums of social and economic status historically. Their livelihoods and conditions of living have become particularly precarious since the early 2000s when the government of Gujarat embarked on an ambitious plan for port-based industrialisation and privatisation of vast tracts of wastelands, grasslands and coast line. Given this context, the paper focuses attention on the relations of exchange like market-tying informal credit contracts widely used by traders to consolidate their control over marketing processes and their impact on the lives and livelihoods of Wagher fishers. It is argued that the unfreedom that arises from the embeddedness of market transactions in social interactions constrains the ability of Wagher fishers to effectively resist ongoing processes of economic exploitation and coastal expropriation, or to advocate for their fair inclusion in social and economic development.

The last three decades have seen waves of coastal development paradigms, the most recent being that of ‘blue economy’ and ‘blue growth’ — terms used in conjunction with sustainable development. The blue economy paradigm has its share of discontents across Indian Ocean nations who resist further commodification of coastal spaces and its perverse outcomes in the garb of sustainability. Community-based conservation, citizen mapping of traditional tenure arrangements over coastal commons are emerging counter-strategies in India, to prevent land alienation, and coastal and oceanic ‘grab’. The paper does a reflexive assessment of a case of citizen mapping of coastal commons as a legal pluralistic conservation engagement from India. It examines the effectiveness of such localised collaborative civil society exercises against systemic shifts in coastal protection regimes. It details beneficial practices and knowledge generated by such citizen mapping exercises with reflexive insights for civil society actors. It also critically examines the limitations of such civil society efforts constrained by fixed coastal governance frameworks. The paper argues that Indian coastal regulation law’s built-in iniquities motivate as well as limit civil society efforts to democratise coastal governance. Local actors’ capabilities and social positions themselves further cramp the utility of legal options, making the alienation of the commons all too commonplace under neoliberal environmental governance.

There is demand to protect at-risk fish species and ecosystems. Property rights regimes can be superior to spatial controls via Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for doing so. Empirical cases from Australia and the US indicate that MPAs are inequitable, too large and restrictive, and controversial. These conditions lead to resistance and political pushback, threatening long-term budgets and conservation goals. A critique of MPAs is presented along with a range of property rights arrangements–common, community, private—and Coasean bargaining as alternatives. Outlined benefits are a.) Rights holders have a stake in conservation and are central in its design. They are more than respondents. b). Costs/benefits can be more equally distributed, including direct payments that include both costs of transition and contribution to public goods provision. c.) Spatial set-asides confront tradeoffs and hence, are more apt to be economically sited and designed. d.) Modifications can occur more smoothly through market exchange than through the political process. Durable global conservation efforts can be enhanced.

In 2001, one of the first initiatives in Galapagos promoting the sustainable use of marine resources with the participation of women in the fisheries sector was launched. This case study tells the story of Pescado Azul (‘Blue Fish’ in Spanish), an association formed by a group of women, mostly wives of fishers, from Isabela Island, Galapagos Archipelago. Pescado Azul was created as a development-focused intervention to market processed products such as smoked fish, croquettes and albacore pate from local small-scale, artisanal fisheries. This study illustrates the origin, development and management of the initiative within Isabela´s context, explores its achievements and limitations. Some of the lessons learned and pitfalls by individual members of the association and institutional actors linked to the initiative are presented and analysed. Main findings show four as key reasons for the discontinuity of Pescado Azul after some years of success: a) the different visions that were the driving forces of the initiative by both the members and supporting institutions, b) the potential negative consequences of an inadequate planning of welfare actions, c) the importance of promoting initiatives with bottom-up rather than top-down approaches, and d) the gender-based strategies, which were not adequately developed at the time the project was implemented. Our findings contribute to better understand gender-focused interventions within small-scale fisheries as a way to illustrate strengths and threats to these types of initiatives, including the need for improvement in the planning and execution of similar development projects in Galapagos or in other places with similar social contexts.

The article explores the emergence of coastal ethics in the Anthropocene, focusing on the Riviera Maya in Mexico. In response to escalating challenges such as coastal degradation and Sargassum impact, the study shifts the focus from blame to the practices of marine biologists engaged in repairing ecosystems, particularly seagrasses. The concept of “working seagrasses” is introduced, emphasizing the functional, performative, and manipulative aspects of human-seagrass interactions. Through ethnographic fieldwork, the author observes a departure from blame-based approaches prevalent in the field towards marine biologists, who actively work to repair seagrass beds. Three empirical examples illustrate different dimensions of working seagrasses, shedding light on scientists’ curated interactions, ecological restoration practices, and the role of species recognition in coastal ethics. The study explores multi-species entanglements along Mexican coasts, emphasizing collaborative efforts between humans and non-humans. By addressing how marine biologists respond to coastal degradation and involving non-human actors, the study contributes to understanding evolving coastal ethics in the Anthropocene.