The Sea is my Bank: Vanuatu Small-Scale Fisheries and Human Wellbeing

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries play an important role in supporting the wellbeing of coastal communities around the globe. The concept of Social Wellbeing provides an analytical framework for understanding the context-specific importance of these fisheries to individual fishers and their families, coastal communities, and broader societies. Understanding how fisheries impact wellbeing is important to informing fisheries management. This article presents the results of an ethnographic study on the island of Lelepa, Vanuatu, exploring how small-scale fisheries impact human wellbeing and how those impacts has changed over time. Ethnographic data detail historical changes, including market transformation and access, the introduction of new fishing technologies, and the consolidation of livelihood activities that affect how fisheries are valued today. Although interview responses and ethnographic data showed a multiplicity of values associated with fishing, three primary themes arose: the role of fishing as a “bank” and livelihood safety net, the emergence of fishing as a preferred alternative livelihood activity, and the attachment of many subjective and relational values to fishing.