Searching for Subsistence: In the Field in Pursuit... - University of ...

This article presents the results of fieldresearch focused on a simple exploratoryresearch question: is subsistence fishingoccurring in the coastal waters of RhodeIsland? We chose to study the coastalwaters of Rhode Island based on convenience,but we expect that our findingswill have relevance for a broader researchcommunity. Subsistence fishing is beginningto attract the attention of some fisherymanagers and researchers in the NewEngland region of the United States, whoharbor the intuitions that there may bea form of fishing that is neither strictlycommercial nor recreational and that aseparate management category may bewarranted. We wanted to assess theseintuitions and evaluate the potential ofthe theoretical constructs present in thesubsistence literature to be constructivelyapplied to fisheries management.PREVIOUS RESEARCHON SUBSISTENCE ANDSUBSISTENCE FISHINGOur ostensibly simple research questionimmediately becomes more complexwhen the ambiguity of the term“subsistence” is factored in. How doesone determine whether subsistence fishingis occurring, if the meaning of termitself is elusive? To address this difficulty,we based the current project onprevious theoretical work. Previously,we attempted to decipher the manymeanings of “subsistence” in the academicliterature and reviewed the fewknown attempts at formal managementof subsistence fishing (Schumann andMacinko 2007). We used this survey oftheoretical work on subsistence to guideformulation of our research questionsand examined existing reports of subsistencefishing, paying close attention tothe motivations underlying these studiesand the methodologies employed.How Do They Define Subsistence?A simple definition of subsistence fisheriesis “local, non-commercial fisheries,oriented not primarily towards recreationbut for the procurement of fish for consumptionof the fishers, their families, andcommunity" (Berkes 1988:319; 1990:35).Academic literature rarely reflects sucha simple definition, perhaps because thereality of subsistence fishing itself is notso straightforward. Academic efforts toelaborate more specific definitions havegiven rise to four broad categories ofmeaning, which we present as alternatedefinitions of the term:1. Subsistence: economic activities orsystems sustaining a basic level oflivelihood, not profit (Sahlins 1972;Eversole 2003);2. Subsistence: economies based on sharing,not selling (Young et al. 1994);3. Subsistence: social and cultural institutionssupported by an economy ofnon-market distribution (Wenzel1991; Freeman 1993; NRC 1999);and4. Subsistence: culturally significantfood-producing and distributing activities(Toth and Brown 1997; Brown etal. 1998; Brown and Toth 2001).While these four definitions no doubtshare a common origin, and may evenrepresent points along an evolutionarypath, they are used concurrentlytoday in different bodies of literature,and are clearly at odds with each other.Subsistence fishing, defined to mirrorthese different meanings of “subsistence,”’can be construed as fishing forSarah Schumann interviews the ownerof Ocean State Tackle, a key informant.Fisheries • VOL 32 NO 12 • DECEMBER 2007 • WWW.FISHERIES.ORG 593