Traditional Fishing Patterns in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument By

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Administrative Reports are issued to promptly disseminate scientific and technical information to marine resource managers, scientists, and the general public. Their contents cover a range of topics, including biological and economic research, stock assessment, trends in fisheries, and other subjects. Administrative Reports typically have not been reviewed outside the Center. As such, they are considered informal publications. The material presented in Administrative Reports may later be published in the formal scientific literature after more rigorous verification, editing, and peer review. Other publications are free to cite Administrative Reports as they wish provided the informal nature of the contents is clearly indicated and proper credit is given to the author(s). Administrative Reports may be cited as follows

Post Tsunami Job Satisfaction Among the Fishers of Na Pru Village, on the Andaman Sea Coast of Thailand

The paper examines job satisfaction among fishers in a tsunami-impacted area on the Andaman coast of Thailand. Following the tsunami, many predicted that fishers would be reluctant to resume their fishing activities. Observations in the fishing communities, however, indicated that as soon as fishers obtained replacements for equipment damaged by the tsunami, they began to fish again. Nevertheless, most fishers reported they would change fishing type, and that if they had the opportunity they would leave fishing altogether. Whether or not these attitudes can be attributed solely to the impacts of the tsunami is not clear at this point, but this supposition is provided some support from data collected from small scale fishers in two towns near Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand which reflected more positive attitudes towards the occupation. While attitudes towards the occupation are more negative than those reported for many other fisheries, the scores for the job satisfaction categories indicated that the sample means for all job satisfaction categories except Self-Actualisation are above the midpoint on the scales. This, in turn, indicates general satisfaction with the occupation-perhaps the challenge and adventure of the job are perceived as being a little too much following on the heels of the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated the area. Hence, although fishers say that they would leave the occupation for another, it is unlikely that they will unless the alternate occupation, at the very least, meets the satisfactions provided by fishing. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

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

Exploring Influences on Environmental Stewardship of Fishing Communities in Fisheries Management in the Philippines

Fisheries compliance has been explored conceptually and empirically in numerous contexts but in many fisheries, compliance with rules is not sufficient to return to sustainable levels of effort. Failing to understand the context and what drives fishers to behave the way they do, has the potential to misdirect investments. The authors present a conceptual model of fisheries ecosystem stewardship (FES) that expands upon fisheries compliance with the addition of moral obligation for fishing communities. This paper uses household survey data from fishing communities in three marine key biodiversity areas (MKBA) in the Philippines to test part of the FES model using logistic regression and multiple regression analysis with empirical data to test the model. Data shows that apart from the respondents’ location (i.e., which MKBA is adjacent to their community), knowledge of laws protecting coastal/marine resources was the most important predictor of environmental stewardship, followed by support for limiting fishing effort and knowledge of illegal fishing. Individual decisions about if and how-to fish are influenced by the economic context and available livelihood opportunities. However, the moral obligation to “do the right thing” is equally, if not more important to consider for fisheries ecosystem stewardship in fishing communities

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

WTO must ban harmful fisheries subsidies

Sustainably managed wild fisheries support food and nutritional security, livelihoods, and cultures (1). Harmful fisheries subsidies—government payments that incentivize overcapacity and lead to overfishing—undermine these benefits yet are increasing globally (2). World Trade Organization (WTO) members have a unique opportunity at their ministerial meeting in November to reach an agreement that eliminates harmful subsidies (3). We—a group of scientists spanning 46 countries and 6 continents—urge the WTO to make this commitment..