Fishermen, Politics, and Participation: An Ethnographic Examination of Commercial Fisheries Management in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Currently, there is widespread debate regarding the overall status of the world\u27s fisheries, with some researchers projecting their total collapse in only a few decades, and others concluding the situation is not quite as bleak. Additional debates include what strategies should be used to manage fisheries at various scales, and further research is needed to determine which strategies are most appropriate for use in particular situations and locales, as context is critical. Recently, prominent common pool resources scholars have expressed the need for ethnographic approaches to studying resource management institutions in order to move beyond the current focus of simply identifying the factors and conditions that lead to the self-organization of resource users and long-term sustainability of management institutions. These authors describe the need for examining the larger context in which management institutions exist and taking various historical, political, and sociocultural factors into account when examining common pool resources. This dissertation is a response to that request. This research is the result of over 20 months of ethnographic research in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Drawing on research in political ecology and building on anthropological critiques of common pool resource institutions, I describe the historical, social, and political factors that influence how fisheries management occurs at the federal and territorial levels, and how commercial fishers, managers, and other stakeholders experience and participate in multi-scale management processes. Ethnographic data suggest that there are a variety of historical, social, and political factors that influence how commercial fishers, managers, and other stakeholders perceive the federal fisheries management process, the extent of their participation in that process, as well as interactions within and between stakeholder groups. Additionally, the mismatch that exists between the centralized management structure of the US federal system and the small-scale, multi-method nature of St. Croix\u27s fishery creates a complex management environment in which few stakeholders participate

US Virgin Islands Fishing Community Resilience: Informing a Research Agenda

For fishers throughout the Caribbean, major storm events such as hurricanes are a significant component of their life experiences. Over the past few decades, fishers in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) frequently experienced major storms and their aftermath, including Hurricanes Hugo (1989), Marilyn (1995), and Irma and Maria (2017). Using the resilience literature as our theoretical lens, we provide historical context and analyze current preliminary data on fishers’ perspectives to develop a better understanding of fishers’ and institutional responses to storms. We examine individual experiences and interactions with the institutions engaged in direct storm relief and post-storm fishery management. Preliminary analysis of these fishers’ perspectives is used to inform recommendations for a future research agenda by identifying the variables most prominent in both the resilience literature and fishers’ experiences

USVI Fishing Community Resilience

Presentation for United States Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources Fisheries Journal Club

USVI Fishing Community Resilience: Informing a Research Agenda

Paper presentation given at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Progra

Towards an ecosystem-based approach of Guam\u27s coral reefs: The human dimension

Management of tropical reef ecosystems under pressure from terrestrial and extractive marine activities is not straightforward, especially when the interests of extractive and non-extractive marine resource sectors compete. Before implementing management actions, potential outcomes of alternative management strategies can be evaluated in order to avoid adverse or unintended consequences. In tropical reef ecosystems the continued existence of the cultural and recreational fishing activities and the economically important dive-based tourism and recreation industry rest on sustainably managed marine resources. Through a case study of Guam, an ecosystem model was linked with human behavior models for participation in fishing and diving to evaluate future socio-ecological impacts of different management options. Ecosystem indices for reef status and resilience, and extraction potential were identified to evaluate the performance of alternative management scenarios. These marine ecosystem indices link the natural system to human uses (fishing and dive-based tourism and recreation). Evaluating management scenarios indicate that applying a single management tool, such as input controls or marine preserves, without also managing the watershed, is suboptimal. Combining different management tools has negative near-term costs, particularly for the fishing sector, but these are likely to be outweighed by the long-term benefits obtained from greater species abundance. Adopting watershed management measures in addition to fishery regulations distributes the burden for improving the reef status across multiple sectors that contribute to reef pressures

Towards an ecosystem-based approach of Guam's coral reefs : The human dimension

Management of tropical reef ecosystems under pressure from terrestrial and extractive marine activities is not straightforward, especially when the interests of extractive and non-extractive marine resource sectors compete. Before implementing management actions, potential outcomes of alternative management strategies can be evaluated in order to avoid adverse or unintended consequences. In tropical reef ecosystems the continued existence of the cultural and recreational fishing activities and the economically important dive-based tourism and recreation industry rest on sustainably managed marine resources. Through a case study of Guam, an ecosystem model was linked with human behavior models for participation in fishing and diving to evaluate future socio-ecological impacts of different management options. Ecosystem indices for reef status and resilience, and extraction potential were identified to evaluate the performance of alternative management scenarios. These marine ecosystem indices link the natural system to human uses (fishing and dive-based tourism and recreation). Evaluating management scenarios indicate that applying a single management tool, such as input controls or marine preserves, without also managing the watershed, is suboptimal. Combining different management tools has negative near-term costs, particularly for the fishing sector, but these are likely to be outweighed by the long-term benefits obtained from greater species abundance. Adopting watershed management measures in addition to fishery regulations distributes the burden for improving the reef status across multiple sectors that contribute to reef pressures.</p