Abstract
Small-scale fisheries are important to livelihoods and subsistence seafood consumption of millions of fishers. Sea cucumbers are fished worldwide for export to Asia, yet few studies have assessed factors affecting socioeconomics and wellbeing among fishers. We interviewed 476 men and women sea cucumber fishers at multiple villages within multiple locations in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and New Caledonia using structured questionnaires. Low rates of subsistence consumption confirmed a primary role of sea cucumbers in income security. Prices of sea cucumbers sold by fishers varied greatly among countries, depending on the species. Gender variation in landing prices could be due to women catching smaller sea cucumbers or because some traders take advantage of them. Dissatisfaction with fishery income was common (44% of fishers), especially for i-Kiribati fishers, male fishers, and fishers experiencing difficulty selling their catch, but was uncorrelated with sale prices. Income dissatisfaction worsened with age. The number of livelihood activities averaged 2.2–2.5 across countries, and varied significantly among locations. Sea cucumbers were often a primary source of income to fishers, especially in Tonga. Other common livelihood activities were fishing other marine resources, copra production in Kiribati, agriculture in Fiji, and salaried jobs in New Caledonia. Fishing other coastal and coral reef resources was the most common fall-back livelihood option if fishers were forced to exit the fishery. Our data highlight large disparities in subsistence consumption, gender-related price equity, and livelihood diversity among parallel artisanal fisheries. Improvement of supply chains in dispersed small-scale fisheries appears as a critical need for enhancing income and wellbeing of fishers. Strong evidence for co-dependence among small-scale fisheries, through fall-back livelihood preferences of fishers, suggests that resource managers must mitigate concomitant effects on other fisheries when considering fishery closures. That is likely to depend on livelihood diversification programs to take pressure off co-dependent fisheries.
Highlights
Small-scale fishery resources and livelihoodsArtisanal or small-scale fisheries play a crucial role as a source of livelihoods, food security and income for millions of people in tropical countries [1, 2], but differential benefits to fishers might be affected by a range of factors
We interviewed 476 men and women sea cucumber fishers at multiple villages within multiple locations in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and New Caledonia using structured questionnaires
The largest sample of interviews was obtained in Fiji, and lowest in New Caledonia, for reasons mentioned earlier (Table 1)
Summary
Small-scale fishery resources and livelihoodsArtisanal or small-scale fisheries play a crucial role as a source of livelihoods, food security and income for millions of people in tropical countries [1, 2], but differential benefits to fishers might be affected by a range of factors. Understanding the socioeconomic characteristics of fisheries is important for planning regulatory measures to improve resource sustainability [3]. Such information could assist in designing development programs or interventions to optimise economic benefits for local communities. Factors including a lack of knowledge of the market price for key species, or poor handling and processing, may influence prices received by local fishers [5, 7]. Both men and women are involved in inshore fisheries for fishes and invertebrates [8, 9]. Understanding socio-economic disparities in fisheries is a first step to addressing gender inequities [12], such as through targeted training programs
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