Details:

Journal Title:
Marine Fisheries Review
Personal Author:
Agar, Juan J. ; Shivlani, Manoj ; Matos-Caraballo, Daniel
Agar, Juan J. ; Shivlani, Manoj ; Matos-Caraballo, Daniel Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center)
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center) Less -
Description:
The COVID-19 pandemic and governmental actions to contain its spread threatened the livelihoods of mil- lions of small-scale fishermen around the world. Because the duration and scale of the impacts can vary widely within and across fisheries and regions, it is important to mon- itor ground conditions. This study reports on the early socioeconomic effects of CO- VID-19 on Puerto Rican small-scale fisher- men. The study focuses on the first 6 months of 2020 since COVID-19 began to disrupt seafood markets in January 2020. Drawing on 317 telephone interviews with fishing captains conducted between July and September 2020, we find that the pandemic severely disrupted fishing operations owing to three main factors: loss of seafood markets mainly in the leisure and hospitality sector, strict commonwealth and local governmental restrictions (lockdowns and curfews), and the adoption of sanitary control and prevention measures (face cov- ering and social distancing requirements). These interrelated factors forced most fish- ermen to pause their fishing activities. For- ty-three percent of the fishermen polled stopped their fishing between 1–3 months, and another 33% suspended their fishing for more than 3 months. Preliminary self-reported fishery statistics show that landings and dockside revenues fell by 40% and 51%, respectively, in the first semester of 2020 (January–June) relative to the same period in 2019. However, the fishermen surveyed specified that their fishing revenues had declined by 65% during the same period. Fishing income shortfalls, layoffs, and the loss of non-fish- ing opportunities adversely impacted fish- ermen’s livelihoods. Captains reported los- ing, on average, almost $6,900 relative to the first semester of 2019. One in four cap- tains reported laying off, on average, 1 crewmember. The study also found that fish- ermen withstood the initial impacts of the pandemic thanks to the support of family and friends, personal savings, and social protection programs (unemployment benefits, federal stimulus checks, food stamps, etc.). Entrepreneurial fishermen were able to make ends meet by turning to online retailing and delivery and by continuing to sell roadside and house-to-house.
Keywords:
[+]
Agronomy And Crop Science Aquatic Science
Source:
Marine Fisheries Review, 83(1-2), 14-26
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7755/MFR.83.1-2.3
ISSN:
0090-1830
Format:
PDF
Publisher:
NMFS Publications Office
Document Type:
Journal Article
License:
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Rights Information:
CC0 Public Domain
Compliance:
Submitted
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:f417b61b243cf8e7697b2f729920166c5409e30a691760b4dbe2f7cc03c18529
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/51173/noaa_51173_DS1.pdf
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