Abstract

Fishing is an important source of income to many who have limited employment opportunities in tropical rural areas. Typically, most descriptions of fishing practices in these areas have been restricted to reef fish fisheries, and studies that document pelagic fisheries are rare. This paper provides a socio-economic description of the artisanal pelagic fishery in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, where we conducted 19 in-person interviews in March 2010. We found that fishermen used extensive local knowledge on migration routes to target a variety of pelagic species including dolphin, billfishes, and tuna, which were available at varying periods during the year. The study also found high levels of depend-ence on fishing. Average individual income of fishermen (from fishing alone) was three times that of the average rural individual income, but these high earnings were offset by risks and vulnerability. Fishermen identified multiple threats to their livelihood and well-being, including: lack of access to safety equipment and loss of life at sea, reductions in the availability of stocks, climate-driven variability in the timing of arrival of migratory stocks, and cycles of debt incurred due to the unpredictable nature of the fishery. Despite fishers’ perceived reductions in fish stocks, reducing harvesting capacity is difficult given the high earnings obtained and the severe lack of alternative income strategies. Short-term improvements in livelihoods may be attained through projects to increase fishers’ access to credit, savings programs, and safety equip-ment. Longer-term improvements are challenging given the overexploited status of stocks upon which fishers are depend-ent.

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