Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia
Small-scale fisheries provide seafood for billions of people and are one of the largest employers in many coastal communities. Those households engaged in these fisheries who maintain diverse income sources are generally thought to be better prepared to cope with social or ecological perturbations s...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1451270/full |
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| author | Matthew Lauer Jean Wencélius Paige Dawson Sally J. Holbrook Sarah E. Lester Scott D. Miller Shannon Nelson-Maney Andrew Rassweiler Russell J. Schmitt |
| author_facet | Matthew Lauer Jean Wencélius Paige Dawson Sally J. Holbrook Sarah E. Lester Scott D. Miller Shannon Nelson-Maney Andrew Rassweiler Russell J. Schmitt |
| author_sort | Matthew Lauer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Small-scale fisheries provide seafood for billions of people and are one of the largest employers in many coastal communities. Those households engaged in these fisheries who maintain diverse income sources are generally thought to be better prepared to cope with social or ecological perturbations such as the crises presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. One outcome of the COVID-19 crisis was the collapse of international tourism after many nations instituted strict border controls to slow the virus’s spread, severely impacting coastal communities that depend on tourism-related employment. This research assessed the effects of COVID-19-induced collapse of tourism on small-scale coral reef fishers and households in Moorea, French Polynesia. Ninety-five households were surveyed about their livelihoods, fishing, demographics, and income-generating occupations before and after the lockdown. Shifts in fish biomass were evaluated using time series data collected through underwater visual surveys, and roadside fish vendors were surveyed to assess fish sales. Results showed that after tourism employment evaporated more Moorea households began fishing to boost their incomes and food security. However, the increase in fishing pressure showed no appreciable decline in the biomass of fishable species. The households responsible for the increased fishing activities were those who were working in the tourism economy prior to the pandemic and subsequently lost their jobs. Households that combined fishing with construction or other stable sectors showed greater abilities to cope, while those combining fishing with tourism were heavily impacted. Importantly, results showed that those households devoted solely to fishing managed the crisis adeptly due to their superior fishing skills and ecological knowledge. This pattern suggests that not all forms of household livelihood diversification confer equal advantages and that resource-dependent households are not necessarily intrinsically less resilient. More generally, it is argued that we should be cautious when promoting livelihood diversification as a blanket solution to decrease household vulnerability, and that ecological knowledge diversity is underappreciated. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a511a681cece4f6ca997b9fea750112b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-a511a681cece4f6ca997b9fea750112b2024-12-06T04:32:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452024-12-011110.3389/fmars.2024.14512701451270Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French PolynesiaMatthew Lauer0Jean Wencélius1Paige Dawson2Sally J. Holbrook3Sarah E. Lester4Scott D. Miller5Shannon Nelson-Maney6Andrew Rassweiler7Russell J. Schmitt8Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United StatesCNRS UAR3278 CRIOBE – Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement, Moorea, French PolynesiaDepartment of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United StatesDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and the Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United StatesMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United StatesDepartment of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United StatesDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and the Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesSmall-scale fisheries provide seafood for billions of people and are one of the largest employers in many coastal communities. Those households engaged in these fisheries who maintain diverse income sources are generally thought to be better prepared to cope with social or ecological perturbations such as the crises presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. One outcome of the COVID-19 crisis was the collapse of international tourism after many nations instituted strict border controls to slow the virus’s spread, severely impacting coastal communities that depend on tourism-related employment. This research assessed the effects of COVID-19-induced collapse of tourism on small-scale coral reef fishers and households in Moorea, French Polynesia. Ninety-five households were surveyed about their livelihoods, fishing, demographics, and income-generating occupations before and after the lockdown. Shifts in fish biomass were evaluated using time series data collected through underwater visual surveys, and roadside fish vendors were surveyed to assess fish sales. Results showed that after tourism employment evaporated more Moorea households began fishing to boost their incomes and food security. However, the increase in fishing pressure showed no appreciable decline in the biomass of fishable species. The households responsible for the increased fishing activities were those who were working in the tourism economy prior to the pandemic and subsequently lost their jobs. Households that combined fishing with construction or other stable sectors showed greater abilities to cope, while those combining fishing with tourism were heavily impacted. Importantly, results showed that those households devoted solely to fishing managed the crisis adeptly due to their superior fishing skills and ecological knowledge. This pattern suggests that not all forms of household livelihood diversification confer equal advantages and that resource-dependent households are not necessarily intrinsically less resilient. More generally, it is argued that we should be cautious when promoting livelihood diversification as a blanket solution to decrease household vulnerability, and that ecological knowledge diversity is underappreciated.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1451270/fullCOVID-19small-scale fisherieslivelihood diversitycoral reefsFrench Polynesiafishing skill |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Lauer Jean Wencélius Paige Dawson Sally J. Holbrook Sarah E. Lester Scott D. Miller Shannon Nelson-Maney Andrew Rassweiler Russell J. Schmitt Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia Frontiers in Marine Science COVID-19 small-scale fisheries livelihood diversity coral reefs French Polynesia fishing skill |
| title | Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia |
| title_full | Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia |
| title_fullStr | Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia |
| title_short | Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia |
| title_sort | livelihood diversity and fishing skill during covid 19 lockdowns in french polynesia |
| topic | COVID-19 small-scale fisheries livelihood diversity coral reefs French Polynesia fishing skill |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1451270/full |
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