scholarly journals Small-Scale Fishing and Sustainability. An Ethnographic Approach to the Case of Self-Employed Fishermen in the South-East of Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10542
Author(s):  
Gabriel López-Martínez ◽  
Klaus Schriewer ◽  
Víctor Meseguer-Sánchez

Small-scale fishermen, in contrast to industrial fishing boats, develop a sustainable relationship with their activity from three perspectives: social, economic, and environmental. From this hypothesis, we analyze the ethnographic material obtained in extensive fieldwork (in-depth interviews and participant observation) developed in the four main ports of the region of Murcia (Spain). From this field work the existence of two other types of fishermen (life-modes) besides small-scale fishermen is derived: small entrepreneurs and wage-earners. In different proportions, all three share the consequences of the various reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Despite the similarities, this paper shows different strategies, in each of the cases, that justify their permanence in their activity, taking into account the labor modality, as well as their relationship with the idea of sustainability. Conclusions show that because small-scale self-employed fishermen are involved much more than the two other life-modes in the totality of tasks related to their profession in that they own both the means and relations of production (simple commodity production), they are best placed to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100
Author(s):  
Berea Antaki ◽  
Katalin Medvedev

This article describes the tensions between institutionalized and grassroots forms of sustainability and their subsequent effects on textile artisans in La Paz, Bolivia. Principles of the indigenous cosmology Suma Qamaña are applied to the twenty-first-century challenge of environmental degradation and governmental corruption in the description of craft practices at two artisan collectives in La Paz. Suma Qamaña is an expression of the harmonious and respectful coexistence of humans with nature, which entails communal values and reciprocal resource management principles. The study highlights grassroots, practical solutions that encourage economic and environmental sustainability for textile cooperatives in Bolivia. Through extensive participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study seeks to understand how the lives of artisans are affected by the Bolivian government’s appropriation of the Suma Qamaña cosmology. The current political party, the Movimiento al Socialismo, has gained popular support in Bolivia partly by institutionalizing the inherent rights of nature in the national constitution. Despite this, the government continues to pursue extractive natural resource policies. To counter this, Bolivian textile artisans practise their own version of bottom-up sustainability, which does not rely on government institutions to enforce change. The artisans’ situated practices, traditional knowledge base and the inherently sustainable characteristics of craft production ‐ flexible, small-scale, localized and resilient ‐ reflect potential trends and alternatives for apparel production.


Author(s):  
Gurudas Nulkar

Research and discussions on environmental sustainability of businesses generally focus on large corporations. Their environmental impacts are more likely to be noticed while small and medium enterprises (SME) are largely ignored. With a small scale of operations, SMEs are generally perceived to have less environmental impacts. However, as larger corporations outsource their manufacturing to SMEs the environmental burden shifts within their supply chain. This research was conducted within manufacturing SMEs in industrial markets (B2B) in Pune, India. In depth interviews with large and small firms helped develop the conceptual model and the questionnaire. Responses from 60 SMEs were analysed. The research identified factors like owner awareness, barriers and influencers to green practices and categorized environmental practices within product life cycle. The results showed that owners with high awareness levels had advanced environmental activities. The strength of barriers and influencers was established and the author makes recommendations based on these findings.


The Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the Internet of Things pose numerous challenges for broadcasters in Malaysia. Archiving content and production workflow are critical in the transition to the digital environment. Issue of resource expansion and loss of opportunity among small and medium-sized broadcasters are a result of technological disruption at the advent of IR 4.0. Large amount of content requires digitisation following new quality control (QC) standards in the transition to digitalisation. In this exploratory study, a scalable media asset management (MAM) solution especially for small-scale content providers is proposed. The aim is to establish: (1) the challenges experienced by audio-visual archives, (2) metadata features for effective MAM processes and (3) efficiency among talents to facilitate large volume of transactions in the MAM workflow. In this qualitative research, face-to-face in-depth interviews with broadcasters, content providers and vendors at their respective premises and participant observation and content analysis were conducted at production operation centres and production houses to understand their issues. A compliance criteria model compatible to their workflow is proposed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Tiago F. Lopes ◽  
Rafał M. Łukasik

Biorefineries are emerging as the proper route to defeat climate change and other social, socio-economic and environmental concerns. So far, no residual lignocellulosic biomass-based biorefineries have been yet industrially implemented, mainly due to its economic viability. This article exposes some elements that may help overcome the bottlenecks associated to its social, economic and environmental sustainability: small-scale approaches, biomass valorisation through added-value products and near-zero effluent.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliane Lodi ◽  
Camilah Antunes Zappes ◽  
Álvaro Samuel Guimarães dos Santos

The objectives of this study were to understand the ecological aspects of the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Cagarras Archipelago, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and possible anthropogenic impacts by comparing the knowledge of local small-scale fishermen (GA) and the regulars in the archipelago (GB). The data obtained were compared with those available in the literature to propose strategies for monitoring and preservation. Between August and December 2010, we applied the methods of participant observation, interviews-questionnaires and use of illustrative posters. Sixty-one interviews were conducted, from which 83.6% were selected by considering correct answers about the identification of the species on posters (morphological characteristics) and description of time of occurrence in the archipelago (July to December) as reported for the species in the literature. Regarding the seven questions analyzed statistically, a significant difference was found between the accounts of the two groups with respect to anthropic threats to T. truncatus. Gill-nets and the decrease of fishing resources were the main causes identified by the GA group whereas the GB group pointed to the disorganized use of space, pollution and predatory fishing as the factors that have threatened the common bottlenose dolphins. The use of ethnobiological data in conservation programs brings opportunities for the collaboration and participation of the community that is directly inserted into the ecosystem as well as a chance for locals to get involved in issues concerning the sustainability of the archipelago.


Author(s):  
Troels Jacob Hegland ◽  
Jesper Raakjaer

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is rooted in the Treaty of Rome. After its completion in 1983, the policy framework was gradually reformed through decennial reviews in 1993, 2003, and 2014. Due to geopolitical, physiographic, and historical reasons, the EU implementation of the CFP is most developed in the North Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea, and less developed in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. However, the CFP applies throughout European Union (EU) waters, which that are treated as a “common pond.” The CFP has been heavily contested since its introduction, and over long periods was characterized as a management system in crisis. Historically, the CFP has arguably struggled to perform and the policy’s ability to meet its objectives has not uncommonly been undermined by factors such as internally contradictory decisions and inefficient implementation. Since the turn of the century, the policy has changed its course by incrementally institutionalizing principles for a more environmentally orientated and scientifically based fisheries management approach. In general, in the latest decade, fisheries have become increasingly sustainable in both environmental and economic terms. An increasing number of fish stocks under the CFP are being exploited at sustainable levels—a development that is likely to continue, as fish stocks are coming to be more commonly managed along the lines of science-based multi-annual management plans. Consequently, many fishing fleets, particularly those deployed in northern waters, have shown good economic performance in recent years. This development has been further facilitated by the introduction of market-based management principles; in most member states these have been implemented by granting de facto ownership to fishing rights for free in the name of ecological and economic sustainability. This has, however, in many cases also led to huge wealth generation for a small privileged group of large-scale fishers at the expense of small-scale fisheries and smaller fishing communities, as well as society at large; this situation has led to calls for both a fairer distribution of fishing rights—to protect the small-scale sector—and for a resource rent or exploitation fee to be collected for the benefit of society at large, which is the true owner of fishing resources. Consequently, social sustainability, understood as the improved well-being of fishing communities and a fairer sharing out of the benefits derived from fisheries resources, should be a subject for the CFP to consider in the future.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1404-1418
Author(s):  
Gurudas Nulkar

Research and discussions on environmental sustainability of businesses generally focus on large corporations. Their environmental impacts are more likely to be noticed while small and medium enterprises (SME) are largely ignored. With a small scale of operations, SMEs are generally perceived to have less environmental impacts. However, as larger corporations outsource their manufacturing to SMEs the environmental burden shifts within their supply chain. This research was conducted within manufacturing SMEs in industrial markets (B2B) in Pune, India. In depth interviews with large and small firms helped develop the conceptual model and the questionnaire. Responses from 60 SMEs were analysed. The research identified factors like owner awareness, barriers and influencers to green practices and categorized environmental practices within product life cycle. The results showed that owners with high awareness levels had advanced environmental activities. The strength of barriers and influencers was established and the author makes recommendations based on these findings.


Author(s):  
Dunsi Oladele ◽  
Solina Richter ◽  
Alexander Clark ◽  
Lory Laing

Over the years, many policies have been implemented across nations to prevent, reduce and tighten enforcement on smoking and tobacco use. However, despite all of the major initiatives, smoking related deaths and diseases still remain high and present a major challenge for many nations of the world. In this paper we argue that conducting a critical ethnography study in different settings, as this research sets out to do (in Nigeria) is a first step to understanding the tobacco control policies that will work effectively in different resource settings. As the act of smoking becomes global, it is beneficial to study the effect of specific methods, methodology and policies in addressing smoking in the population. This paper is one of three on the study of public health challenge of smoking in Nigeria, and explains the method used in collecting and analyzing data. The research was undertaken and analyzed through a critical ethnography lens using critical realism as a philosophical underpinning. In the study we relied upon the following components: original field work in Nigeria which includes participant observation of smokers, in-depth interviews and focus groups with smokers, and in depth interviews with health professionals working in the area of tobacco control in Nigeria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 200-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reyhan Atasü-Topcuoğlu

This study focuses on small-scale entrepreneurship of Syrian refugees in Turkey. It analyses in a Bourdieusian way how they utilize cultural, social, economic and symbolic capital, and reveals their start-up and sustainability strategies. It is based on 24 in-depth interviews with Syrian small entrepreneurs who started up new businesses after 2011, in Istanbul, Gaziantep, and Hatay. It describes the entrepreneurial opportunity structure and the significance of the informal economy and analyses Syrians’ utilization of various forms of capital in small entrepreneurship and relations to integration. The main finding indicates that the informal economy—as the main site of such entrepreneurship—eases the start-up process but limits on-going business and integration.


Marine Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 104009
Author(s):  
Alicia Said ◽  
Jose Pascual-Fernández ◽  
Vanessa Iglésias Amorim ◽  
Mathilde Højrup Autzen ◽  
Troels Jacob Hegland ◽  
...  

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