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Dear coral-listers,<br>
About a year ago I wrote to you all regarding my master's thesis research
on the relationship between socioeconomic variables (wealth, education,
migration, etc.) and coastal resource use. The numerous responses I
received were very supportive and helpful. Many of you also asked
me to share my results. <br>
Well, I am still analyzing my data but have come across a number of
relationships between the way people use and perceive coastal resources
and their socioeconomic characteristics. While I examined
perceptions regarding a number of issues, I would like to share some of
my findings regarding use and perception of coral reefs in hopes that the
feedback I receive from this multi disciplinary forum will provide some
interpretations of the data that I have not yet considered. I am
most interested in what the significance of these findings might mean to
various disciplines, and what types of integrated management strategies
could be developed based upon these relationships.<br>
In short, my research was conducted in a tiny coastal village in the
southern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The fishery is primarily
focused on coral reef fish, utilizing gill nets, spear guns, hook and
line, and <i>palangre </i>(a multiple hook long line system typically
fished at about 300 feet deep and outside the reef). My interviews
were long and intensive, so my sample size is relatively small
(N=40). An important note is that socioeconomic variables are not
significantly correlated to eachother (i.e. wealthier respondents do not
necessarily have more education, etc).<br>
<br>
Regarding the use of the fishery, I found three statistically significant
relationships: <br>
1) People utilizing spear guns are younger than people that do not.
Not a real surprise considering that I saw them dive to 100 feet without
tanks.<br>
2) People that spend more time on the coast (recorded in days per month)
tend to utilize nets.<br>
3) Wealthier people (measured on an emically derived scale that ranks the
presence or absence of household items) are more likely to use
<i>palangre<br>
<br>
</i>Regarding perceptions about coral reefs- respondents were asked
several open ended questions regarding the state of the reef, the future
of the reef, and what actvities affect the reef. The significant
relationships are below:<br>
1) respondents with more education are more likely to claim that tourism
affects coral reefs<br>
2) wealthier respondents are more likely to:<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>a) claim
that tourism affects coral reefs<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>b) claim
that ships (spilled oil, anchors, groundings, etc.) affect coral
reefs<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>c) claim
that the future of coral reefs is dependent upon human intervention
(development, conservation initiatives, etc.)<br>
3) poorer respondents are more likely to:<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>a) claim
that the reef is in poor codition<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>b) claim
that the future of the reef will be worse in 5 years<br>
<br>
So.... If any of these findings are of interest to you guys, I
would love to hear your opinions on how you might interpret these data
and how they could be applied to a management perspective. I would
also appreciate recommendations of any literature that either supports or
contradicts my findings. <br>
Respectfully, <br>
<div>Joshua Cinner</div>
<div>2550 Kingstown Rd.</div>
<div>Kingston, RI</div>
<div>02881</div>
<div>(401) 792-7166</div>
jcin5062@postoffice.uri.edu
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