Suchergebnisse

Research on agrarian changes in Southeast Asia has paid comparatively less attention to the processes of livelihood change in coastal regions. In the context of declining profitability in the fishing industry due to environmental degradation and overfishing, governments at multiple levels are heavily promoting tourism in the Philippines. This paper considers the ways in which coastal residents in the Calamianes Islands, Palawan province, negotiate these changes in the fishing and tourism industries. Despite the push for tourism as a more sustainable alternative to fishing, the experiences and priorities of coastal residents complicate this shift. The paper demonstrates that fishing is marked by increasing levels of intensification, and that tourism has the potential to exclude fishers from many of its purported benefits. These are two important trends that need to be taken into account when analysing livelihood change in coastal regions of Southeast Asia.

Recent critiques of decentralized approaches to fisheries management have focused on problems related to poor governance. This paper aims to extend such critiques by considering in greater depth local perceptions of governance in the Philippines. Specifically, it deals with a set of regulations addressing the live reef fish trade in the Calamianes Islands. The paper shows how the entire process of implementing a closed season, the fishers' critique, and the subsequent overturning of these regulations exposes the way personalized politics is understood and practiced within Philippine society. Firstly, a background about the live reef fish trade is provided, and how the regulations were proposed and developed is described. The majority of the paper then analyses local opposition to the regulations in terms of local understandings of politics. The paper argues that when negative sentiments towards governance and governments are widespread among local residents, this may hinder successful co-management.

Many conservationists and local governments in the Philippines (and other tropical countries) have attempted to link marine protected areas (MPAs) with dive tourism, arguing that the user fees generated by dive tourism can potentially generate satisfactory outcomes for all stakeholders. In this paper, an account of the relationship between MPAs, dive tourism and small-scale fisheries in the Calamianes Islands, Philippines, is presented. It is argued that although the assumed harmonious relationship between marine conservation and dive tourism may work in theory, in practice different understandings of MPAs can create conflict.

Research on agrarian changes in Southeast Asia has paid comparatively less attention to the processes of livelihood change in coastal regions. In the context of declining profitability in the fishing industry due to environmental degradation and overfishing, governments at multiple levels are heavily promoting tourism in the Philippines. This paper considers the ways in which coastal residents in the Calamianes Islands, Palawan province, negotiate these changes in the fishing and tourism industries. Despite the push for tourism as a more sustainable alternative to fishing, the experiences and priorities of coastal residents complicate this shift. The paper demonstrates that fishing is marked by increasing levels of intensification, and that tourism has the potential to exclude fishers from many of its purported benefits. These are two important trends that need to be taken into account when analysing livelihood change in coastal regions of Southeast Asia.

Recent critiques of decentralized approaches to fisheries management have focused on problems related to poor governance. This paper aims to extend such critiques by considering in greater depth local perceptions of governance in the Philippines. Specifically, it deals with a set of regulations addressing the live reef fish trade in the Calamianes Islands. The paper shows how the entire process of implementing a closed season, the fishers' critique, and the subsequent overturning of these regulations exposes the way personalized politics is understood and practiced within Philippine society. Firstly, a background about the live reef fish trade is provided, and how the regulations were proposed and developed is described. The majority of the paper then analyses local opposition to the regulations in terms of local understandings of politics. The paper argues that when negative sentiments towards governance and governments are widespread among local residents, this may hinder successful co-management.

Fishing for Fairness develops an explicitly cultural perspective on environmental politics in the Philippines by analysing the responses of fishers to marine resource regulations. In the resource frontier of the Calamianes Islands, fishing, conservation and tourism provide the context where competing visions of how to engage with marine resources are played out. The book draws on data from ethnographic fieldwork with fishers, government and NGO officials, fish traders and tourism operators to show how the strategic responses of fishers to management initiatives are couched within particular cultural idioms. Tapping into broader notions of morality in the Philippines, fishers express a discourse that emphasises their poverty and the obligations of the wealthy to treat them with fairness. By deploying this discourse, fishers are able to reframe what are—on the surface—questions of environmental management into issues about poverty within particular social relationships. By using a cultural political ecology framework to analyse fishers' responses to regulation, the book emphasises the distinctive ways in which marginalised people in the Philippines resist and reframe resource management initiatives. Fishing for Fairness will appeal to both academics and policy makers interested in marine resource management, political ecology, anthropology and development studies particularly throughout the Asia-Pacific.

Many conservationists and local governments in the Philippines (and other tropical countries) have attempted to link marine protected areas (MPAs) with dive tourism, arguing that the user fees generated by dive tourism can potentially generate satisfactory outcomes for all stakeholders. In this paper, an account of the relationship between MPAs, dive tourism and small-scale fisheries in the Calamianes Islands, Philippines, is presented. It is argued that although the assumed harmonious relationship between marine conservation and dive tourism may work in theory, in practice different understandings of MPAs can create conflict.

[Extract] Seafood has a special role in China's luxury dining scene. Holding a big seafood banquet is a way of cementing social ties with important partners in a professional context; people in high level positions in government or the private sector often attend several banquets a week as part of their work obligations. During these banquets hosts are expected to impress their guests by serving high-status foods. Important seafood dishes often served at banquets include: lobster, giant geoduck clams, crabs and abalone, shark fin, sea cucumbers, and reef fish. As China's middle class expands and incomes rise, the country's per capita consumption of seafood is increasing. Banquets typically feature exotic imported seafood. However, consumption patterns are shifting – less shark fin is being consumed following a high profile anti-cruelty campaign combined with a government crackdown on expense account dining. Other species are moving towards the front line of endangerment, especially colourful tropical reef fish. The "live reef fish for food trade" is a major fishery industry in Asia Pacific: major source countries include Indonesia and the Philippines, and most exports go to Hong Kong and China.

[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?

Fishing for Fairness develops an explicitly cultural perspective on environmental politics in the Philippines by analysing the responses of fishers to marine resource regulations. In the resource frontier of the Calamianes Islands, fishing, conservation and tourism provide the context where competing visions of how to engage with marine resources are played out. The book draws on data from ethnographic fieldwork with fishers, government and NGO officials, fish traders and tourism operators to show how the strategic responses of fishers to management initiatives are couched within particular cultural idioms. Tapping into broader notions of morality in the Philippines, fishers express a discourse that emphasises their poverty and the obligations of the wealthy to treat them with fairness. By deploying this discourse, fishers are able to reframe what are—on the surface—questions of environmental management into issues about poverty within particular social relationships. By using a cultural political ecology framework to analyse fishers' responses to regulation, the book emphasises the distinctive ways in which marginalised people in the Philippines resist and reframe resource management initiatives. Fishing for Fairness will appeal to both academics and policy makers interested in marine resource management, political ecology, anthropology and development studies particularly throughout the Asia-Pacific.