Silva Monalisa R O, Silva André B, Barbosa Jaciana C, Amaral Cássia, Lopes Priscila F M
Fishing ecology, management, and economics group, Department of Ecology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
Graduate Program in Development and Environment, Universidade Federal do Piauí, Teresina, Brazil.
Mar Policy. 2022 Jan;135:104842. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104842. Epub 2021 Oct 29.
Small-scale fishers in the developing world have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic given that they belong to one of the most socioeconomically vulnerable groups. In Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, it was expected early on that the economy and wellbeing of fishers would be negatively impacted, yet fishers were expected to show some adaptive and coping mechanisms. To assess whether this was the case, 40 fishers, who are also leaders of fishing associations representing over 80 thousand fishers throughout the country, were interviewed. Results revealed that female leaders appraised the economic and health / wellbeing impacts to be harsher on fishers than men did. Moreover, fishers on the coast were found to be better able to adapt than those inland, although both had low levels of adaptive capacity. The nature of coping and adaptive mechanisms was also found to be different between locations. Whereas leaders from coastal associations stated that most of the adaptive responses occurred in the post-harvest sector (e.g., changes to the types of sales and changes to supply chain actors), leaders from inland communities stated that the changes that occurred related specifically to fishing (e.g., decrease in effort and changes in fishing grounds). These findings suggest that: 1) women may be better prepared to respond to COVID-19 because their appraisal may be more realistic than men, 2) the historic vulnerability of fishing communities may limit their adaptative capacity, and 3) coastal fishers have likely found ways to maintain part of their trade, contrary to inland fishers. Thus, to better help small-scale fisheries to cope with this particular pandemic or other large disruptive impacts, it would be recommended to invest in women in leadership roles while also guaranteeing that fishers have the minimal conditions to cope with and adapt to impacts. The latter can be done by assuring emergency cash transfers for the duration of the impact, as with the still ongoing pandemic, and investing in building fisher resilience for future shocks.
鉴于小规模渔民属于社会经济上最脆弱的群体之一，发展中世界的小规模渔民受到新冠疫情的影响尤为严重。在受疫情影响最严重的国家之一巴西，人们早就预计渔民的经济状况和福祉会受到负面影响，但预计渔民会展现出一些适应和应对机制。为评估情况是否如此，研究人员采访了40位渔民，他们也是代表全国8万多名渔民的渔业协会领导人。结果显示，女性领导人认为疫情对渔民的经济和健康/福祉影响比男性更为严重。此外，尽管沿海和内陆渔民的适应能力都较低，但发现沿海渔民比内陆渔民更能适应。不同地区应对和适应机制的性质也有所不同。沿海协会的领导人表示，大多数适应性反应发生在收获后部门（例如，销售类型的变化和供应链参与者的变化），而内陆社区的领导人则表示，发生的变化具体与捕鱼有关（例如，捕鱼努力的减少和渔场的变化）。这些发现表明：1）女性可能更有准备应对新冠疫情，因为她们的评估可能比男性更现实；2）渔业社区长期以来的脆弱性可能会限制其适应能力；3）与内陆渔民不同，沿海渔民可能已经找到了维持部分贸易的方法。因此，为了更好地帮助小规模渔业应对这一特殊疫情或其他重大破坏性影响，建议投资发挥女性的领导作用，同时确保渔民具备应对和适应影响的最低条件。对于像仍在持续的疫情这种情况，可以通过在影响持续期间确保紧急现金转移，并投资增强渔民对未来冲击的恢复力来实现后者。
