Comment on Fishing Effort Allocation in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Abstract

"There is no doubt that social structure and norms play an important role in economic efficiency but to downplay the crucial role that economic factors play in artisanal fisher decision making can lead to faulty policy recommendations and could potentially jeopardize efforts to conserve important reef species and habitats. Like terrestrial farmers and forest users in developing countries, the decisions of artisanal fishers tend to be uncompromisingly economic in nature when all factors ? information availability, risk preferences, and wealth (or lack thereof) ? are considered. Fishers in the Turks and Caicos Islands tend to be marginalized ethnically or socially, and the fishery acts as the de facto social safety net. In circumstances such as these, fishers tend to be highly cognizant of risk and rewards even if the dockside banter centers on diving skill. Artisanal fishers? economic decision-making capacity should not be underestimated."