Civilian at Sea: Understanding Fisheries’ Entanglement with Maritime Border Security

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fishing in coastal waters can significantly intersect with state efforts to secure maritime borders. Recent cases of illegal fishing, maritime militia operation and piracy, especially in regions such as the South China Sea, have exposed the unpredictable and elusive nature of the ways in which fisheries and the mobility of fishing boats can complicate border security agenda. The current discussions of these topics are, however, largely episodic, scattered, and state-centric, risking poorly-informed policy/naval responses based on a partial understanding of security dynamics involving fishers and fishing boats. This paper identifies the multiple, and at times simultaneous, makeup of fishing entanglement with maritime border security by synthesising and organising its diverse forms into a typology. Supported by the practice theory and the civilian focus in critical border studies scholarship, this review examines eight types under three broad categories, namely: (1) fishing to pose security threat – ‘resource scarcity’, ‘redrawn boundaries’, ‘Trojan horse’; (2) fishing to aid security objectives – ‘civilian scout’, ‘peace broker’; and (3) security of fishers under threat – ‘direct preying’, ‘coping response’, ‘alert system’. The results provide further substance to the understanding that civilian movement has functions and meanings that can significantly shape the security trajectories of borders. It is suggested that a widened purview of fishing involvement is engaged in security analyses to enhance the comprehension and handling of this widespread but under-studied maritime border phenomenon.