Monitoring Environmental Justice Impacts: Vietnamese-American Longline Fishermen Adapt to the Hawaii Swordfish Fishery Closure

Abstract

The Hawaii-based longline fishery, which lands the vast majority of the Hawaii commercial catch of pelagic fish, is a limited entry fishery capped at 164 permits. Of the 120 active vessels, roughly 1/3 are owned by Vietnamese-Americans. Since the late 1980s, nearly all of the Vietnamese-American longline fishermen targeted swordfish. This changed dramatically in 2001 when the National Marine Fisheries Service prohibited targeting of swordfish due to interactions with threatened and endangered sea turtles. The final environmental impact statement predicted that the closure and related actions would disproportionately and negatively affect Vietnamese-American fishermen. To monitor actual social impacts, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 40 Vietnamese-American owners, captains, and wives from June - November 2003. Changes in household income, family cohesion, and community cohesion, coupled with the cumulative impact from other actions, created a dramatic change in the quality of life of affected individuals and families, with effects rippling through the Vietnamese-American fishing community and the broader longline community. The impact assessment had identified some types of impacts, but missed substantial components of others, demonstrating the necessity of monitoring social impacts.