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

Vulnerable people, vulnerable resources? Exploring the relationship between people's vulnerability and the sustainability of community-managed natural resources

Participatory approaches to the management of common-pool resources (CPRs) are built on the premise that resource-users are dependent on the productivity of the resource and therefore have the incentive to act as resource stewards if empowered to do so. Yet many CPR users have only temporary interest in using the resources. Moreover, they are vulnerable to a range of stressors and risks unrelated to resource access and sustainability concerns. Both of these may undermine such incentives. Furthermore, discounting theory posits that high vulnerability shortens time horizons so that vulnerable CPR users might be expected to heavily discount future benefits from resource conservation. We present an ethnographic study carried out in two communities on Lake Victoria, Uganda, where fisher folk face a range of elevated risks to health and security. These immediate risks undermine participatory fishery management but this does not necessarily indicate inherently short time-horizons; for many, fishing and fish-trading are not perceived as a life-long occupation but as a means to generate capital for investment in other businesses. Thus, whether they are vulnerable or not, it cannot simply be assumed that current CPR users will have a long-term interest in participating in resource management. Incentivizing participation in CPR management for long-term sustainability may have to address both people’s wider vulnerabilities and aspirations