Fishing and Marine Conservation: Views from Communities in Southeast Alaska

Dramatic social and environmental changes are occurring in coastal communities across the United States.  Commercial fishing is in decline and amenity-driven development and tourism are fueling growth.  These changes are altering the relationships between communities and the ocean environment, and in some cases, generating conflicts between extractive and non-extractive marine activities.   Investigating how coastal communities are responding these changes is an important area for social science inquiry.  Using survey data from 1,500 residents of Southeast Alaska this study examines views regarding the role of fishing versus tourism in the region’s economic future, while also assessing beliefs about tradeoffs between conservation and development.  Findings show that the underlying socioeconomic characteristics of particular communities explain diverging views.  Factors such as age, length of residence, and employment in fishing also predict residents’ perceptions about the importance of natural resource use versus conservation.  Place also significantly affects support for conservation, while the politicization of marine resource concerns and tensions between commercial fishing and tourism also appear in results.   Given the shifting relationships between communities and the ocean environment, these results illustrate the importance of investigating how all residents view fishing, marine conservation, and development priorities in the future.