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...community is substantially dependent on or substantially engaged in the harvest or processing of fishery resources to meet social and economic needs, and includes fishing vessel owners, operators, crew, and United States fish processors that are based in such communities (MSFCMA, Section 3). In addition, the National Standard guidelines (1 May 1998; 63 FR 24211) define a fishing community as a social or economic group whose members reside in a specific location and share a common dependence on commercial, recreational, or subsistence fishing, or on directly related fisheries dependent services and industries (for example, boatyards, ice suppliers, tackle shops). Sustained participation is defined to mean continued access to the fishery within the constraint of the condition of the resource (50 CFR 600.345).
Literature in sociology and in anthropology use various methodologies such as cultural mapping, social and cultural impact assessment, and development of classification systems to identify fishing-dependent communities. These methods are used to measure potential alteration to the relationships with the natural resource, with the local historical and cultural traditions, and to the sense of identity with the place. This literature only indirectly measures the potential alteration to economic relationships.
This research introduces the methods of industrial organization to the study of fishing-dependent communities. Industrial organization, a subfield in economics, is the study of the structure of firms and markets and their interactions within an industry. An industry is comprised of firms and employees at various levels of production and is usually defined along both product and place lines, e.g. the industry in the United States for shrimp. A market includes both demanders and suppliers and is defined along both product and place lines as well, e.g. the market in the United States for shrimp. By looking at the industry as a whole, this research attempts to measure the potential alteration to economic relationships within the market. The measures are loss of employment and income. These measures add economic relationships to the literature which includes social and anthropological relationships.
Literature Review
This section provides a brief review of the literature in sociology and anthropology which discusses fishery or natural resource related communities and methods for assessing impacts on those communities. The studies introduce various means to identify the community and various methods to assess alterations to the relationships within the communities that might result from regulations.
Kusel (1996) defines a forest-dependent community as a place with a traditional geographical sense and a measure of place identity. That is, he asks, How do people in that place relate to the natural resource base beyond economic or social measures found in the U.S. Census (e.g. population, educational achievement, poverty)? To test this approach, Doak and Kusel (1996) examined six forestry regions in California. They used community workshops to involve local expert knowledge. They began with census block groups, built up to the county level, and then they explored the levels of identity that these various groups had with particular definitions of community. One of their major findings was that socioeconomic groupings were not good predictors of community place identity.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's website (1) presents some baseline fishery descriptions of U.S. west coast marine fishing communities. The Council defines these communities as counties where any activity occurs which is related to Council-regulated fisheries in California, Oregon, and Washington. Community data include recent and projected populations, age structure, ethnic and racial characteristics, educational attainment, employment characteristics, labor and proprietor income information, export bases, landings data, and ex-vessel revenue information.
Dyer and Griffith (2) drew on the concept of Natural Resource Community (NRC) as a basis for their definition of a fishery-dependent community. NRC's exist where individuals have dependence on a "renewable natural resource and ... are rooted in local history and local traditions, deriving social and cultural identity from a sense of place whose life rhythms rise and fall with populations of fish, seasonal conditions at sea and the increasingly complex regulatory environment entangling their traditions."
They conducted a baseline study of New England and the Mid-Atlantic communities dependent on the multi-species groundfish fishery (MGF). The study examined the alteration of social, human, and cultural capital that would occur with a complete collapse of the MGF. Their research areas were selected using licensing data, vessel tonnage listings, permit data, and information from key informants such as state enforcement personnel, NMFS port agents, and local industry members. Additional social and economic data were collected during community visits.
To measure fishery dependence, Dyer and Griffith (2) developed a Fishery Dependence Index using measures of infrastructure and support related to fishing such as numbers of repair and supply facilities and fish dealers and processors; the presence or absence of religious and secular art and architecture dedicated to fishing; and numbers of MGF permits and vessels.
Variation in fishery dependency both between and within ports was also measured. Ports that were found to be more isolated and less flexible in terms of ability to move to other fish stocks and gear types were more fishery dependent; ports where particular classes of fishermen within the industry were not well integrated into other fisheries or economic entities (e.g. tourism) were ranked more dependent on the MGF fishery. Ports with historical and cultural indicators of reliance on fishing (mariner museums etc.) were ranked more dependent. Competition and conflict amongst participants reflected perceptions that the resource was scarce and, therefore, that the participants were more dependent on it.
Griffith (1996) categorized fishermen's dependence on resources in North Carolina by examining 1) motivation for fishing (e.g. income, recreation, subsistence), 2) percentage of income derived from fishing, 3) time commitment (months per year and total years of experience), 4) flexibility index, from low to high, measuring the numbers of gears, fisheries, and species with which the fisherman is engaged, 5) number of different kinds of vessels, 6) number of crew involved in fishing operation, 7) relationship to the seafood marketing/processing sector, 8) principal social problems, 9) principal biological issues, 10) most desired regulations, and 11) most disruptive regulations.
Using this system, fishermen were grouped into seven categories on a continuum from full-time, owner/operator commercial fisherman to affiliated recreational fisherman (angler). This classification scheme goes beyond simple ranking by income earned from the fishery and introduces economic relationships with crew and market variables. Ethnographic data such as investigations of fishermen's main social and biological concerns related to fishing contributed to an evaluation of how the various categories of fishermen would be affected by a range of proposed licensing systems. Griffith used cultural mapping of fishing locales throughout North Carolina, questionnaires, in-depth interviewing, and focus groups to identify communities. Secondary sources also were consulted, such as fishery organization membership lists and data collected by the N.C. Department of Marine Fisheries.
Wilson et al. (1998) conducted a social and cultural impact assessment of the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the amendment to the Atlantic Billfish FMP. They combined baseline descriptions of affected fishing communities with an analysis of potential impacts--both quantifiable and qualitative--on these communities. The communities were selected partly by examining landings data, but with a recognition that the fishing fleets employing particular gears are dispersed geographically.
The existence of previous studies and the suggestions of HMS and Atlantic Billfish Advisory Panels also influenced the choice of which communities were studied. The study analyzed locations in Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Massachusetts to illustrate the range of potential impacts of the proposed regulatory changes.
Wilson et al. (1998) outlined three categories of impacts on their selected communities: 1) those which "affect the volume of money that is going through the community," 2) those which "affect the flexibility of the fishing operations," and 3) those which "impose direct costs on fishing operations." To measure social and cultural impacts, they referred to the "economic vulnerability" of the fishery in terms of competition faced in supply and marketing and the extent of social capital or community networks available. Social capital includes those aspects of a community's social structure which allow people with little financial capital "to accumulate the symbolic and material means to participate successfully in an economic activity" (Dyer and Griffith (2)). Social capital consists of trust, relationships, and support institutions such as churches and other means that enable economic capital to make necessary connections (Wilson et al., 1998).
Wilson et. al (1998) measured fishery dependence by examining demographic variables, percentage of employment in fishery related industries, income for those industries, landings by species, and fishing related businesses (marinas, boat rental shops, dive shops, boat dockage and repair facilities, tackle and bait shops, tourism related to fishing). They also documented the social capital of the fishing community by counting numbers of recreational or commercial fishing associations and fisherman participation in...
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