Climate change knowledge, concerns, and behaviors among Caribbean fishers

Determinants of Undergraduates’ Environmental Behavioural Intentions and Their Links to Socioscientific Issues Education

“…However, whether scientific knowledge affects behavior is unclear. Some studies found strong impacts of knowledge on behavior (Bord et al, 2000;Hines et al, 1987;Kaiser et al, 1999) and others found knowledge to have a limited role or none at all (Baptiste, 2018;Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). Because of these inconsistencies, it is important to include scientific knowledge in attempting to predict behavioral intentions, especially with student populations.…”

Climate Change and Small Island Developing States

“…Third, a few studies have examined which stakeholder is perceived as being responsible for responding to climate change. In Jamaica, fishers believe that they are not responsible for causing climate change nor for resolving the issue; rather, they believe that the government and environmental organizations should be responsible (56). This sentiment about government responsibility was seen to be a common perception in other studies (63).…”

“…In terms of knowledge about causes and consequences of climate change, case studies find that many residents of SIDS have high levels of awareness of climate impacts (54,55). For example, a study of fishers' knowledge of climate change in the Caribbean found a high level of awareness that deforestation and burning of fossil fuels lead to climate change (56). In The Bahamas, young females were found to have a high awareness of climate change (57), whereas in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, farmers recognized a difference in weather patterns (58).…”

“…Other studies have focused on the source of knowledge about climate change, as this helps to identify avenues to disseminate information to vulnerable communities. In the Caribbean, the most popular sources are friends, neighbors, and television, and the Internet is the least cited source (56). Religious leaders are also trusted sources of information about climate change adaptation (55).…”

“…Other studies have examined types of adaptation measures that are used by different stakeholders in SIDS at the local level, largely focusing on specific livelihoods (61,98,99). For example, fishers in the Caribbean have adapted to climate change by going further out to sea, reducing the number of fishing days, and changing the type and site of fishing (56,65). However, it is largely the wealthiest fishers that have the resources available to implement these strategies.…”