Shark fin drops off the menu, conservationists claim victory

[Extract] In recent times, China has witnessed a series of campaigns aimed at persuading people to stop eating shark fin soup. So it is encouraging that, over the past year, shark fin consumption appears to have declined. If some Chinese government sources are to be believed, the fall has been as much as 70%. Conservationists and anti-shark fin campaigners have been understandably happy at the result, leading some to claim a "victory" for conservation. But can this drop in shark fin consumption really be attributed to a successful consumer awareness campaign

The political aspects of resilience

This study investigates the political aspects of resilience in social-ecological systems. Based on long-term anthropological fieldwork in the Calamianes Islands, Philippines, the study focuses on the diverse and contested human interests that make up social-ecological systems. In the Calamianes, what promotes the interests of one group of people may impact negatively for another group of people, or the ecosystem in which they live. Fishers, for example, have struggled greatly to preserve their patterns of marine resource use, and to oppose various forms of regulation that have been introduced. Following Armitage and Johnson (2006), this study has found that deciding 'for what and for whom are we trying to promote resilience?' becomes a critical question. Answering such a question will require decisions that will favour certain elements or resource users within any social-ecological system, and disadvantage others. The study concludes therefore that such political aspects of resilience thinking require greater attention, and that more attention could be paid to negotiations over tradeoffs among various stakeholders, if the resilience concept is to be more widely accepted in policy and management arenas

The role of land tenure in livelihood transitions from fishing to tourism

© 2019, The Author(s). Coastal tourism has been supported by the growth of middle-class tourist markets, promoted by governments who view it as an important avenue for economic growth and backed by environmental organisations who regard it as an alternative, more environmentally sustainable livelihood than capture fisheries. How policymakers and households in coastal areas negotiate the challenges and opportunities associated with growing tourism and declining capture fisheries is increasingly important. Drawing on extended ethnographic fieldwork from the Philippines between 2006 and 2018, this paper examines the transition from fishing to tourism and the consequences for one coastal community. I focus on land tenure as a key variable that shapes the effects and opportunities associated with livelihood transitions from fishing to tourism. While tourism has not been inherently positive or negative, the ability of local households to negotiate the boom and obtain the full benefits out of it is questionable. Many fishers have switched their primary livelihood activity to tourism, including the construction of tourist boats, working as tour guides or providing accommodation. However, the growth of tourism has prompted several attempts to evict the community, including from local elites who aimed to develop resorts on the coast and a recent push by the national administration to ‘clean up’ tourist sites around the country. I argue that land tenure in coastal communities should be more of a focus for researchers working in small-scale fisheries, as well as for researchers working on land rights

Maritime disputes and seafood regimes: a broader perspective on fishing and the Philippines–China relationship

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. In much discussion surrounding the relationship between maritime disputes and fisheries resources, emphasis is given to the role of fisheries resources as a driver of the dispute or how states use fishing to further their interests through territoriality. Yet a narrow focus on maritime disputes obscures the broader ways in which fishing contributes to interstate relationships. This paper uses a political ecology and food regimes approach to demonstrate how seafood flows between the Philippines and China represent power relations. China exports a significant volume of low-value small fish and molluscs from its distant water fishery. The Philippines exports low numbers of high-value reef fish. Current Chinese aquaculture investments are minimal. Poaching forms another component of this seafood regime, which is marked by environmental unsustainability and unequal relations between the Philippines and China. This analysis highlights the value of seeing fishing and fishery resources as constitutive of a broader politicized environment

Environmental fixes and historical trajectories of marine resource use in Southeast Asia

This paper emphasises the long-term historical trajectories of marine resource use in the Philippines through an examination of successive environmental fixes. Based on fieldwork from coastal Mindoro province, the paper shows how the technological intensification and geographical expansion of fisheries, the development of aquaculture and the promotion of tourism represent three forms of environmental fixes that aim to address the problems caused by marine resource declines and subsequent lack of availability of means of production. All three fixes have struggled to reduce environmental pressure or provide a long-term basis for livelihoods. The paper argues that viewing how successive types of environmental fixes unfold over long periods of time highlights how marine resource declines are part of much wider economic and historical processes, with consequent implications for livelihoods and governance.</p

Food and water insecurity in specialised fishing communities: evidence from the Philippines

© 2018 The Authors. Natural Resources Forum © 2018 United Nations Food insecurity remains a common problem for Southeast Asian communities that specialise in fishing. Food insecurity is closely linked to other social conditions, and the linkages between these social conditions and their underlying drivers are less well explored in fishing contexts than they are in agricultural contexts. In this paper I draw on fieldwork from a community that specialises in fishing in the Western Philippines to examine the linkages between and drivers of food and water insecurity. Food insecurity is common, and characterised by a lack of funds to buy food, particularly during periods of bad weather. Water insecurity is also characterised by the need to pay for the delivery of drinking water from one of several remote sources. Because of the central role of markets in communities that specialise in fishing, I argue that both food and water insecurity are driven by income poverty. Understanding the relations between food and water insecurity and the wider drivers of poverty in specialised fishing community contexts should generate improved understandings of how food and water insecurity persist, and how these conditions may be better addressed

The social context of the Chinese food system: an ethnographic study of the Beijing seafood market

China's role in the global food system has expanded immensely in recent years. In the seafood sector, it is now the largest consumer of seafood products in the world, making the Chinese market highly significant for global fisheries. Drawing on ethnographic- and interview-based research in the largest seafood market in Beijing, this paper analyzes the social context of Chinese consumption and trade. We broadly conceive of this social context as encompassing a range of social norms and practices that include culturally and historically generated consumer preferences, and distinctive forms of governance and business practice. We find that the social context of China is a key driver of patterns of consumption and trade, and provides challenges and opportunities to improve governance for environmental sustainability. We highlight the need for greater policy and academic attention to these characteristics of seafood consumption and trade within China

From A Fishing Village to Tourists’ Destination : Hongjia Village in Northeastern China

Peer reviewe