Fisher Behavior and Occupational Change In The Small Scale Fisheries Of The Galápagos Marine Reserve

Widespread recognition of the inadequacy of traditional ‘top-down’ management approaches for preventing stock collapses has highlighted the need to understand fishermen’s motives. However, many studies of fisher behavior only touch on short-term social motivations (e.g., spatial foraging patterns, individual profit, communication). I argue that occupational changes are the long-term drivers of resource pressure, and that not only active but also former fishers should be studied for complete understanding. In the Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) a decade of (select) environmental degradation has precipitated collapse in target species, and the sector has undergone an unusually grassroots shrinkage of small-scale fishing activity. Interviews and an individual-level survey (N=162) conducted from March - August 2012 explored occupational changes, income, and fishing activity in the GMR. Results show that entry and exit is highly fluid and many use fishing as an important fallback source of income in a highly informal and unstable job market. Fishermen give various reasons for how many management-sponsored alternate activities for income generation became complimentary to commercial fishing rather than replacing it, giving institutions a smaller than expected role in reducing fishing impacts. This study contributes needed depth to understanding the social dynamics behind fisher behavior.