Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Forces of development are constantly affecting rural communities in the expanding world economic system. My research with the Garifuna fishermen of Hopkins, Belize, demonstrates the systematic articulations among national export-oriented economic development strategies, rural impoverishment, and environmental degradation. Within a political ecology framework, I document the impact of a shrimp trawling program on the subsistence fishermen of Hopkins, Belize, its impact on the effective marine environment of the subsistence fishermen, and their responses to it. The data gathered for this micro-level study are based on a total of six weeks of on-site, participant observer research in Hopkins on two separate trips. Taped interviews with approximately three-quarters of the active fishermen of Hopkins, along with interviews with other Hopkins residents and government fisheries officials, fishery production and export records from three sources, (the World Bank, the Belize Department of Statistics and the Belize Department of Fisheries) and my own observations provide the documentation of the trawlers impact on the marine environment and the subsistence fishermen of Hopkins. Much of the work of other geographers on Third World development issues shows that rural communities have suffered from political, economic, environmental, and cultural factors that threaten their way of life. My work reveals the current situation in Hopkins, Belize, as part of this process. / Master of Science

In today’s globalised world, countries including South Africa, are pursuing neoliberal economic policies which have many negative effects on ordinary citizens. One such effect is the privatisation of public space which is an important resource for all citizens. This thesis sets out to examine the privatisation of public space along the Durban coast and the subsequent loss of fishing sites for local subsistence fishers. The thesis draws on literature that is critical of contemporary processes of neoliberal governance. The research approach is a qualitative approach where data collection is predominantly through oral evidence. In-depth interviews were conducted with fishers and other stakeholders. Participatory observation was also used to gather data through the attendance of meetings, protests and workshops that pertain to the fishers. The thesis shows how these fishers are being excluded from using public resources along the coast and thereby prevented from making a living. Most of the spaces that have been privatised are being transformed into upmarket developments or used to further trade through the expansion of the Durban Harbour. In addition, the thesis reveals that the fishers are losing a way of life, and experiencing a loss of identity and a communal subsistence economy. The fishers have become ‘invisible’ to the state, and to the authorities. Current marine legislation does not recognise this group of fishers as subsistence fishers. In response, the fishers have established the KwaZulu-Natal Subsistence Fishermen’s Forum in order to mobilise against the broader processes of exclusion and marginalisation resulting from neoliberal pro-growth development policies. Their strategies include protest, deliberation with the state, and striking alliances with other social movements in a broader process of anti-globalisation struggle. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Indigenous knowledge use in identifying artisanal fishing zones is the core issue in this dissertation. It seeks, on one hand, to show the potentially of this knowledge and to establish the relationships between indigenous and scientific knowledge in fishing zones identification and, on other the hand, it is also a trend for alleviating those fishing zones surrounding beaches, estuaries and bays highly exploited by artisanal fishermen. Pushing artisanal fishermen upward offshore and/or into the open sea, they will fish more quality and high economic value fish contributing to enhance their income. By so doing, artisanal fishermen will uplift their living standard and, at the same time, they will contribute to sustainable artisanal fisheries management. Angoche District in Nampula province, north of Mozambique is the study area. The study was carried out to describe the logical sequence underlying on the process of identifying artisanal fishing zones using indigenous knowledge. The relationship between indigenous and scientific knowledge is treated with particular attention. The nature of the study is descriptive and analytical based on qualitative and quantitative data. The method used for data collection was face-to-face interviews using structured and semi-structured open-ended questions. Data on socioeconomic, traditional and cultural practices, technological and climate characteristics were collected, analyzed and discussed. Factors underlying artisanal fishing zones were studied. Spatial and non-spatial information for artisanal fishing zones identification was recorded applying Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and, later, processed and analyzed employing Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Finally, a map showing the localization and distribution of the identified fishing zones in the study area was produced. Results from the research show that identification of fishing zones offshore or open sea can be done simply based on local indigenous knowledge. The GIS technology employment facilitates the inclusion of indigenous knowledge into other knowledge which can be used for local decision making. Sustainable fisheries management can only be achieved by developing a science based on the priorities of local people, and creating a technological base that includes both traditional and modern approaches to problem-solving. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This study explores the ways in which a group of local fishermen in Durban understand and negotiate their categorical exclusion from a public space. Several months prior to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, three piers on the Durban beachfront were closed for upgrading. The fishermen had used two of these piers for nearly three decades, but when they were re-opened, access for fishermen was no longer allowed. Working in the constructionist paradigm and within the field of Cultural Studies, this study describes the fishermen as engaged in the politics of signification through the organisation of public action. To explore their understandings I applied a qualitative, mostly ethnographic approach, and focused particularly on those fishermen who fish on the beachfront and are active in the KwaZulu-Natal Subsistence Fishermen’s Forum (KZNSFF), a body that represents the fishermen in the public sphere. The study shows that the fishermen are a heterogeneous group who understand their exclusion in different ways. This variety and complexity of understandings in effect works against collective action and posed a challenge to the leadership of the KZNSFF who sought to construct a coherent collective action frame. Drawing on Social Movement theory, two public protests in which the fishermen negotiated their exclusion were among the central focuses of this study. The first was held during the World Cup and organised by KZNSFF. The other protest was less coordinated and held after the World Cup. Both protests are analysed through comparison, and indicate the importance of access to resources of leadership. The role of the media in effective Social Movement Organisation (SMO) is discussed in terms of ‘media standing’ and the legitimisation of actions and position of speakers. Further, it is argued that the presence of democratic institutions does not necessarily lead to democratic decision-making as civil society is often demobilised by political society. Additional to public protests, the fishermen negotiated their exclusion in the letters to the editor section of local press. Argumentative discourse analysis is applied in the analysis of a sample whereby strategies of othering are identified. The letter writers were engaged in an unequal contestation in which different sets of stake-holders sought to define what counts as truth in relation to access to the Durban beachfront. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Coral reefs are highly complex and also highly threatened ecosystems. Population growth and the unsustainable use of coral reefs have resulted in 55% of the world’s reefs being considered degraded. Fishing, the primary ‘local’ threat on most reefs, has altered the composition of most reef communities. As a result, very few pristine coral reefs remain. Typically, coral reef research is done via underwater visual censuses, providing abundance estimates but no indication of trophic interactions, therefore we know relatively little about the structure of intact reef food webs. Understanding how human activities affect trophic structure and feeding interactions among resident reef species may be important for coral reef conservation. Here, I apply stable isotope analysis to coral reef piscivorous fishes from Kiritimati (Republic of Kiribati), the world’s largest atoll. I examine dietary niche metrics of five focal species (Cephalopholis argus, Cephalopholis urodeta, Aphareus furca, Lutjanus bohar, and Lutjanus fulvus) and of the piscivore functional group as a whole, across an anthropogenic disturbance gradient that results from the atoll’s heavily skewed geographic population distribution. Using bootstrapped stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values, controlled for body size effects and analysed with Bayesian methods using the SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R) program, I provide evidence of isotopic niche differentiation in C. argus and L. fulvus relative to other sampled species in terms of niche width metrics and mean δ13C and δ15N values. I also analyse the effect of fishing pressure at an individual level (controlling for body size effects on stable isotope signatures for each species), population level (accounting for observed differences in body size distributions across the fishing pressure gradient for each species), and the ‘community’ level (accounting for body size and relative abundance differences of the five piscivores across the fishing pressure gradient). These metrics reveal species-specific changes in niche metrics of three of the focal species at the individual level: C. urodeta, showed regionally distinct niche width metrics but no apparent correlation with fishing pressure, while A. furca and L. bohar, both had broader niche width metrics in heavily fished areas. No significant effect of fishing pressure was found at population or community levels. This study provides the first evidence using stable isotopes that fishing can alter the diets of coral reef fishes. The mechanism by which it can do so, while not entirely clear, would most likely be by expanding a given species’ dietary diversity by either forcing it to switch to non-preferred prey items or changing the diet and/or body size of its prey items, both of which would reflect significant ecological changes within a community. This thesis provides evidence of the utility of stable isotope analyses in answering important ecological questions in coral reef food webs, and reveals that fishing can affect reef communities at the most fundamental level of trophic interactions. / Graduate / 0329 / burrilladrian@gmail.com

Sound management of information and data is an essential cornerstone for efficient and effective decision making. Structured, up to date and easily retrievable data from several heterogeneous sources is often required to effectively manage, monitor and predict resource quantities particularly for depleting resources such as fish. The documentation and management of fisheries data in most developing countries however poses great challenges. The main aim of this study therefore is to design an information system (IS) for Artisanal Fisheries management. The developed IS is supported by a database. Secondary data, from the provincial offices of Moma and Angoche in Mozambique, is used to test and populate the prototype database. The manner in which the database is developed demonstrates how in practice a database can be created as part of an information system. However, due to time restrictions, a complete database for the AF system could not be developed. To accomplish the objectives of the study, a model of the Artisanal Fisheries (AF) system was developed first. Based on standard system development approaches, the key components of the AF system that include; processes, data flows and data stores, were identified. The developed conceptual system was then used to identify critical data stores for the AF system and data models were subsequently developed. A prototype database to support the AF system was then implemented in MS Access. The motivation for this study is as a result of two observations made on information management which are a challenge in artisanal fisheries management in Moma-Angoche. These observations are; (i) the current information system lacks a structured approach and a database to document and archive data/information on the artisanal fisheries subsector; and, (ii) the high proportion of the data/information collected from different sources is not well processed, analyzed and is not user-friendly as yet. The Moma-Angoche Provincial Fisheries office was chosen because it is strategically suitable for research. This has been demonstrated by the amount of socio-economic artisanal fishing census data already collected and by the research on stock marine resources already carried out. As a result, the study area has become a pilot zone of integrated fisheries development projects. During the life cycle of the various projects, and even after their termination, the area remained an important zone where subsequent studies (for example baseline studies) were carried out. Furthermore, the existence of subsequent data available from those studies allows a good opportunity for data comparisons to be made. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Research over the past several decades on the nature of Inuit hunting of narwhals has focused upon harvesting technologies and the traditional ecological knowledge of modern hunting of the species. However, as much as such work has contributed to our understanding of Inuit and narwhal interaction, less is known about contemporary Inuit hunting behaviour of narwhal. The research presented in this dissertation redresses this gap by providing a detailed behavioural description and analysis of the Inuit narwhal hunting in two critical environments utilized by the Inuit of Pond Inlet---those of the spring floe-edge and the summer open water. / This information and its analysis are presented through three manuscripts. The first manuscript forms the analytical basis of the behavioural description by presenting through the use of a decision flow chart, the parameters that affect narwhal hunting. The second and third manuscript explore different foraging strategies involved in several major decisions the Inuit typically face when pursuing narwhal at the floe-edge (Manuscript Two) and in the open water environment (Manuscript Three). The data pertinent to the major decision factors influencing actions in both environments were obtained through participant observation, supplemented by interviews with hunters and elders. / The main results of this research pertain to the different, but complementary, strategies employed by Mittimatalingmiut (Pond Inlet Inuit) hunters during the floe-edge and ice free seasons, as well as during the transition between the two. Before break-up, the most frequent method employed in floe-edge and outpost camp hunts is an ambush or a sit-and-wait strategy. Interestingly, during the transition between floe-edge and complete open water, Pond Inlet Inuit utilized both sit-and-wait and pursuit hunting strategies to maximize their hunting opportunities.