Safety Training and Oceanic Fishing

This paper reports on the cultural adaptation of Atlantic commercial fishermen to the danger of their occupation and efforts to ameliorate that danger through safety training programs. The research is directed towards measuring fishermen's patterns of subjective perceived danger and assessing the impact of safety training on these patterns of thinking. Safety training for commercial fishermen has unique problems owing to a culture that relies heavily on the trivialization or denial of the dangers associated with the work (Binkley, 1995; Poggie et al., 1995, 1996; Pollnac et al., 1995). Hence, understanding the efficacy of various approaches to safety training is important in promoting greater safety at sea, for this understanding will help create the most effective programs

Classification of Coastal Communities Reporting Commercial Fish Landings in the U.S. Northeast Region: Developing and Testing a Methodology

The National Marine Fisheries Service is required by law to conduct social impact assessments of communities impacted by fishery management plans. To facilitate this process, we developed a technique for grouping communities based on common sociocultural attributes. Multivariate data reduction techniques (e.g. principal component analyses, cluster analyses) were used to classify Northeast U.S. fishing communities based on census and fisheries data. The comparisons indicate that the clusters represent real groupings that can be verified with the profiles. We then selected communities representative of different values on these multivariate dimensions for in-depth analysis. The derived clusters are then compared based on more detailed data from fishing community profiles. Ground-truthing (e.g. visiting the communities and collecting primary information) a sample of communities from three clusters (two overlapping geographically) indicates that the more remote techniques are sufficient for typing the communities for further in-depth analyses. The in-depth analyses provide additional important information which we contend is representative of all communities within the cluster

INTRACULTURAL VARIABILITY IN THE COGNITION OF DANGER AMONG SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND FISHERS

The costs of the dangers of commercial fishing are very high, yet fishing vessel safety regulations are frequently met with lack of enthusiasm or even rejection by fishers. Why would fishers reject regulations designed to increase their safety? There is a strong possibility that some of the rejection is the result of lack of cognitive sharing and communication between originators of the regulations and the fishers for whom the regulations are designed. This paper examines the pattern of cognition about danger of the occupation among fishers and relates these patterns to sociocultural differences in two southern New England ports. The intent of the study is to help bridge the gap between regulators and users by providing culturally appropriate information that can be used to design more effective policy, training, and enforcement programs.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Small Fishing Ports in Southern New England, Report to the National Science Foundation, Volume Ib

Social and cultural aspects of fisheries management were examined to establish basic data on the fishing communities and fisheries of southern New England. Five small ports were selected for study--Newport, Chatham, and Westport, Massachusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; and Stonington, Connecticut. These ports differ in terms of local, social, and geographical conditions, fishing styles, and emphases. Results of the study show that these ports act as a backup for the industry as a whole by (1) providing sources of fish for local markets; (2) using low energy models which reduce energy costs; (3) allowing individual fishermen a greater opportunity to find 0 port to suit their life-style; and (4) complementing tourist activities by supplying fresh seafood products. However, a conflict was found to exist between the commercial fisheries and businesses operating largely on the summer tourist trade. More money has been added to the local economy from the latter, resulting in restricted development of commercial fishing

Toward a Model for Fisheries Social Impact Assessment

This paper presents a model for Fisheries Social Impact Assessment (SIA) that lays the groundwork for development of fisheries-focused, quantitative social assessments with a clear conceptual model. The usefulness of current fisheries SIA’s has been called into question by some as incompatible with approaches taken by fisheries biologists and economists when assessing potential effects of management actions. Our model’s approach is closer to the economists’ and biologists’ assessments and is therefore more useful for Fishery Management Council members. The paper was developed by anthropologists initially brought together in 2004 for an SIA Modeling Workshop by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA

Which Fishers are Satisfied in the Caribbean? A Comparative Analysis of Job Satisfaction Among Caribbean Lobster Fishers

Lobster fishing (targeting the spiny lobster Panulirus argus) is an important economic activity throughout the Wider Caribbean Region both as a source of income and employment for the local population as well as foreign exchange for national governments. Due to the high unit prices of the product, international lobster trade provides a way to improve the livelihoods of fisheries-dependent populations. The specie harvested is identical throughout the region and end market prices are roughly similar. In this paper we wish to investigate to which extent lobster fishers’ job satisfaction differs in three countries in the Caribbean and how these differences can be explained by looking at the national governance arrangements

Evaluating Puget Sound Marine Protected Areas to Improve MPA Policy and Implementation

In 2009, an inventory concluded there were 127 MPAs across the State of Washington. Despite this large number, relatively little is known about how well the MPAs are managed or how to improve their effectiveness, particularly in the Puget Sound. To understand how Puget Sound MPAs function from a social-ecological perspective, we will investigate the following key research questions: (1) What conditions and processes lead to successful MPA implementation?; (2) What are the opportunities for Puget Sound MPA planning processes to improve MPA management effectiveness and declare new, successful MPAs?; and (3) Should MPAs be used to increase social-ecological resilience in response to rockfish recovery needs, habitat loss, changing use patterns of Puget Sound resources, ocean acidification, and concomitant climate stresses? We will investigate these questions using literature reviews, key informant interviews, survey instruments, semi-structured interviews, and reviews of ecological monitoring data. Additionally, we will perform a scenario-planning workshop to improve MPA management, help resolve long-standing disagreements between various constituency groups, and possibly identify new MPA sites. We will also investigate whether impacts from climate change could serve as a potential “common ground” between disparate stakeholders for designing and evaluating spatial conservation strategies in a changing environment. Treaty tribes, who have unique rights and authorities as resource co-managers, are explicitly included in our research and scenario planning exercise. The objective of our presentation is to share our preliminary project design and solicit feedback to potentially improve it

Empirical Models of Transitions between Coral Reef States: Effects of Region, Protection, and Environmental Change

There has been substantial recent change in coral reef communities. To date, most analyses have focussed on static patterns or changes in single variables such as coral cover. However, little is known about how community-level changes occur at large spatial scales. Here, we develop Markov models of annual changes in coral and macroalgal cover in the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef (GBR) regions