Means, meanings, and contexts: A framework for integrating detailed ethnographic data into assessments of fishing community vulnerability

Lyons, Courtney; Carothers, Courtney; Reedy, Katherine

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2016.04.022

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…It is our hope that the resultant analysis will be more accessible to policy and lay audiences. In a separate paper we build upon the topic of integrating ethnography into fisheries management, describing in greater detail how ethnographic data might be more explicitly integrated into the fisheries management process (Lyons et al 2016).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A tale of two communities: Using relational place-making to examine fisheries policy in the Pribilof Island communities of St. George and St. Paul, Alaska

2016

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This paper describes how relational place-making, with its focus on power dynamics, networked politics, and non-market, locally-valued characteristics, provides a useful framework for managers to better design fishing community policies. Social data, while becoming more common in fisheries management analyses, are typically restricted to quantitative measures that often cannot adequately summarize dynamics within fishing communities. In contrast, detailed ethnographic research and the theoretical framework of relational place-making can provide a useful methodology through which to gather social data to understand resource-dependent communities and the effects of fisheries management policies in these places. Relational place-making describes the process through which physical spaces are transformed into socially meaningful places, and how these understandings are contested and negotiated among different groups of actors. These contested narratives of place, called place-frames, can interact with economic development efforts to help create (or fail to create) sustainable communities. To better understand the efficacy of a specific fisheries policy, the community development quota (CDQ) program, we conducted 6 months of ethnographic research in the rural, Native communities of St. George and St. Paul, Alaska. In both communities we found that local place-frames centered on local empowerment and control. In St. George, local place-frames conflicted with place-frames advanced by CDQ employees, and locals were unable to align place-making goals with local economic realities. In St. Paul, local residents and CDQ employees shared a place-frame, allowing them to accomplish numerous local development goals. However, differences in place-frames advanced by other political entities on the island often complicated development initiatives. This study supports previous research indicating that policies and development projects that increase local power and self-determination are most successful in furthering community sustainability and well-being. This study indicates that relational place-making can illuminate local goals and desires and is therefore of great utility to the fisheries management decision-making process.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A tale of two communities: Using relational place-making to examine fisheries policy in the Pribilof Island communities of St. George and St. Paul, Alaska

2016

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“…Increasing costs have impacted the availability of ferry, barge and airline services, and the ability of residents to access these services. Larger communities that have sufficient infrastructure, such as Kodiak, Kenai, and Dillingham, are better positioned to support fishing activities and provide services to other communities (Kent and Himes-Cornell 2016;Lyons, Carothers, and Reedy 2016). Some communities lacked ferry service or service was infrequent (i.e., once per month), which diminishes resident's ability to access essential goods, supplies, and services.…”

Section: Ground-truthing In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Caveats of using secondary data, such as U.S. Census data, include inherent discrepancies of the data from inconsistent documentation and unreliable reporting. Indicators based on these data also may not reflect on-the-ground complex social phenomena, such as power relations related to resource access and use (Lyons, Carothers, and Reedy 2016). Quantitative indices typically developed using statistical methods that aggregate data into generalized factors are interpreted as indicators of social vulnerability and well-being, but they may or may not accurately reflect complex socio-economic processes that affect vulnerability (Eakin and Luers 2006;Jacob et al 2010;Oulahen et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground-truthing social vulnerability indices of Alaska fishing communities

et al. 2018

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Community vulnerability is increasingly evaluated through quantitative social indices, typically developed using secondary data sources rather than primary data collection. It is necessary to understand the validity of these indices if they will be used to inform policy and decision making. This paper presents a ground-truthing effort to validate quantitative indices that characterize the well-being of Alaska fishing communities. We utilized ethnographic data collected from 13 representative communities and a capital assets framework to ground-truth the indices, in which qualitative ranks of vulnerability were compared against quantitative indices. The majority (73.8%) of ranks were in complete or moderate agreement and the results indicate that most of the indices are representative of community vulnerability; yet some variables utilized to create the indices could be modified to better reflect realities in Alaska. Indices of commercial fishery engagement and reliance appeared to be more reliable than socioeconomic indicators, particularly for smaller fishing communities. We also confirmed that the indices do not capture political, or ecological factors that affect levels of community vulnerability. We conclude that quantitative indices of community vulnerability are useful rapid assessment tools; however, they should be validated, and complemented with ethnographic data prior to their implementation as policy making and management tools.

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“…A further limitation is that the research did not engage fishers who migrated to the community to harvest sea cucumber. However, the qualitative case study approach was deemed appropriate for its ability to gather rich and nuanced data about local experiences of coupled socialecological change (Lyons et al, 2016). 4.…”

Section: Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Catching sea cucumber fever in coastal communities: Conceptualizing the impacts of shocks versus trends on social-ecological systems

Kaplan-Hallam¹,

Bennett²,

Satterfield³

2018

Preprint

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Research on vulnerability and adaptation in social-ecological systems (SES) has largely centered on climate change and associated biophysical stressors. Key implications of this are twofold. First, there has been limited engagement with the impacts of social drivers of change on communities and linked SES. Second, the focus on climate effects often assumes slower drivers of change and fails to differentiate the implications of change occurring at different timescales. This has resulted in a body of SES scholarship that is under-theorized in terms of how communities experience and respond to fast versus slow change. Yet, social and economic processes at global scales increasingly emerge as 'shocks' for local systems, driving rapid and often surprising forms of change distinct from and yet interacting with the impacts of slow, ongoing 'trends'. This research seeks to understand the nature and impacts of social shocks as opposed to or in concert with trends through the lens of a qualitative case study of a coastal community in Mexico, where demand from international seafood markets has spurred rapid development of a sea cucumber fishery. Specifically, we examined what different socialecological changes are being experienced by the community, how the impacts of the sea cucumber fishery are distinct from and interacting with slower ongoing trends and how these processes are affecting system vulnerability, adaptations and adaptive capacity. We begin by proposing a novel framework for conceptualizing impacts on social systems, as comprised of structures, functions, and feedbacks. Our results illustrate how the rapid-onset of this fishery has ecological changes are being experienced by the community, how the impacts of the sea cucumber fishery are distinct from and interacting with slower ongoing trends and in poaching and armed violence have emerged, exacerbating pressures from ongoing trends in immigration, overfishing and tourism development. We argue that there is a need to better understand and differentiate the social and ecological implications of shocks, which present novel challenges for the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of communities and the sustainability of marine ecosystems.

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Means, meanings, and contexts: A framework for integrating detailed ethnographic data into assessments of fishing community vulnerability

Cited by 14 publications

References 25 publications

A tale of two communities: Using relational place-making to examine fisheries policy in the Pribilof Island communities of St. George and St. Paul, Alaska

A tale of two communities: Using relational place-making to examine fisheries policy in the Pribilof Island communities of St. George and St. Paul, Alaska

Ground-truthing social vulnerability indices of Alaska fishing communities

Catching sea cucumber fever in coastal communities: Conceptualizing the impacts of shocks versus trends on social-ecological systems

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