Southeast Asia’s coastal ecosystems are under enormous pressure from a broad range of processes, including over-fishing and a growth in aquaculture, offshore oil and gas, the development of coastal tourist resorts and the extensive mining... more
Southeast Asia’s coastal ecosystems are under enormous pressure from a broad range of processes, including over-fishing and a growth in aquaculture, offshore oil and gas, the development of coastal tourist resorts and the extensive mining of coastal sand. These processes both impact and contribute towards the region’s economic transition. As populations and investment in coastal regions have grown over the past 25 years, so too have claims over land and biotic resources as new, often global, industries have sought access to and control over fish production through both fisheries and aquaculture. For many Southeast Asian coastal dwellers relying on fish and other living aquatic resources for their livelihoods, these new relations of production and patterns of ownership have proven exclusive and inequitable. At the same time, a series of local and global environmental governance initiatives, ranging from community-based management to state and market conservation arrangements, have be...
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Dawei, a coastal secondary city in southeastern Mya nmar, is poised to face significant social and environmental change. Dawei’s location a t the head of the Dawei River estuary, just thirty kilometres from the Andaman Sea and 350... more
Dawei, a coastal secondary city in southeastern Mya nmar, is poised to face significant social and environmental change. Dawei’s location a t the head of the Dawei River estuary, just thirty kilometres from the Andaman Sea and 350 kilometres to the west of Bangkok, has attracted increasing attention from foreign investo rs. Namely, to develop a Special Economic Zone, build the largest deep-sea port in the region , and connect Dawei by road to the southern economic corridor of mainland Southeast Asia. Littl e is known about how these developments will affect Dawei, nor how climate cha nge will interact with such changes to shape urban vulnerability. In this chapter we exami ne how Dawei’s urban systems are exposed to various climatic and non-climatic stress es and investigate how this plays out through people’s everyday livelihoods. Our analysis then turns to how people cope and adapt to social and environmental change, illuminating ho w social capital and the ways that people relate...
The seafood industry, comprised of capture fisheries, aquaculture and their supporting value chains, plays a major role in the economy and society of Southeast Asia. Fish is the most important source of animal protein in many countries in... more
The seafood industry, comprised of capture fisheries, aquaculture and their supporting value chains, plays a major role in the economy and society of Southeast Asia. Fish is the most important source of animal protein in many countries in the region (Belton and Thilsted 2014) and plays a central role in cuisine and culture in both inland and coastal areas. Expansion of the region’s seafood sector has seen sustained increases in capture fisheries output and, more recently, the meteoric rise of aquaculture, with reported growth in the two sub-sectors averaging 2.9 percent and 9.7 percent per annum, respectively since 1990 (Figure 25.1). Fish make vital contributions to livelihoods and nutrition in vulnerable rural and coastal communities, but are also important to the urban middle class, whose growth – to include a projected 66 percent of the region’s population by 2030 (Kharas 2010) – is likely to result in even higher levels of demand for seafood products (Hall et al. 2011). The reg...
The media spotlight on controversial ‘slave labour’ practices in the Asia-Pacific region has highlighted poor labour conditions across the seafood sector. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being promoted by NGOs,... more
The media spotlight on controversial ‘slave labour’ practices in the Asia-Pacific region has highlighted poor labour conditions across the seafood sector. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being promoted by NGOs, businesses and governments to help handle such labour challenges. This systematic review examines the state of knowledge and trends in the peer-reviewed literature related to the use of ICTs in offshore fisheries. While we hoped to find a robust literature in the area of ICTs-fisheries-labour, a coherent literature does not yet exist. However, our initial analysis suggests that two technologies hold promise for addressing labour abuse in fisheries, namely, (a) detection technologies, which include surveillance of the high seas, and, (b) the creation of mobile apps, particularly to help workers navigate work in fishing. This is where further evidence-based research is needed.
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This paper seeks to establish how COVID-19 is impacting migrant fish workers through focusing on two global fish hubs, Thailand and Taiwan. Through a careful review of the news reports, social media, and NGO reports and press releases,... more
This paper seeks to establish how COVID-19 is impacting migrant fish workers through focusing on two global fish hubs, Thailand and Taiwan. Through a careful review of the news reports, social media, and NGO reports and press releases, three significant themes emerged: employment disruptions due to seafood system instabilities; travel or mobility restrictions; and poor access to services such as health care or social programs. We unpack each theme in turn to spotlight the impacts COVID-19 is having on yet another vulnerable worker population, fish workers. We further reflect on what this pandemic reveals about unacceptable work in industrial fisheries and consider if the pandemic may be producing opportunities to advocate for better working conditions.
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Abstract Integrated approaches to engage coastal communities in management are urgently needed to address coastal change and associated uncertainty. Towards this aim, understanding the complex relationships between coastal well-being and... more
Abstract Integrated approaches to engage coastal communities in management are urgently needed to address coastal change and associated uncertainty. Towards this aim, understanding the complex relationships between coastal well-being and ecosystem services provides a foundation for a range of management and governance interventions. While these relationships are considered in a growing number of case-based studies, the complexity of these linkages has not been comprehensively assessed. We use a systematic review protocol of 50 articles published between 2008 and 2018 to assess the evidence about the interplay among coastal well-being and ecosystem services. We find that empirical research has fallen behind theoretical development in five key areas: 1) geographic diversity; 2) disaggregated data; 3) temporal dynamics; 4) co-production, and; 5) uncertainty of outcomes. We highlight these gaps as frontiers for interdisciplinary coastal well-being and ecosystem service research. Together, the five frontiers chart a potential new research agenda for coastal well-being and ecosystem services research, namely one that involves more cases and authors from the Global South, that explicitly explores social differentiation and changes overtime, that is collaborative from the start, and that engages empirically with the complexity and uncertainty of well-being-ecosystem service interactions and their implications for enhancing management. Our proposed agenda is vital to inform management that effectively supports the health and sustainability of coastal social-ecological systems.
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Abstract The history of fisheries development in Myanmar is poorly understood. A growing body of evidence suggests that working conditions in some of Myanmar's fisheries are extremely precarious. The treatment of labour in the wider... more
Abstract The history of fisheries development in Myanmar is poorly understood. A growing body of evidence suggests that working conditions in some of Myanmar's fisheries are extremely precarious. The treatment of labour in the wider fisheries literature has been fragmented. Drawing together these strands, this paper addresses two central questions through a qualitative analysis of marine fisheries in Mon State in Southeast Myanmar: (1) How have marine fisheries developed in a context of broader political, economic, technological and environmental change? (2) What are the characteristics of labour conditions in Mon's marine fisheries, and how have these been shaped by the context of fisheries development? We show that Mon's fisheries have transformed over the past three decades. Fishing has become more reliant on migrant labour, and a range of unsafe and exploitative labour practices are increasingly apparent. The paper makes several contributions: First, we address gaps in the knowledge on the nature of fisheries in Myanmar. Second, we extend previous research on working conditions in fisheries to show how labour arrangements and exploitation in fisheries emerge in the context of place-specific geographies of environmental, social and economic change. Third, we highlight the need for greater critical attention to labour and working conditions in research on fisheries of all scales.
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In the summer of 2014, major news outlets broke stories on what they labeled “slave labor” practices among the more than 100,000 Burmese and Cambodian migrants working in Thailand’s marine fisherie...
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... I am grateful to Dr. Brian Davy, Dr. Gary Newkirk, Toby Carson, Dr. Stephen Tyler and Dr. Hein Mallee, who have continuously supported my ... PMCR) team in all its com-binations, including, among others, Ouk Li Khim, Dyna Eam, Khy An,... more
... I am grateful to Dr. Brian Davy, Dr. Gary Newkirk, Toby Carson, Dr. Stephen Tyler and Dr. Hein Mallee, who have continuously supported my ... PMCR) team in all its com-binations, including, among others, Ouk Li Khim, Dyna Eam, Khy An, Keo Piseth and Chhin Nith, who made ...
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Research Interests: Anthropology and Art
Sand is a scarce resource, extracted from rivers and coasts at rates that exceed its natural renewal. Yet, little is understood about the political economy of sand extraction, the livelihood vulnerabilities produced, or why sand grabbing... more
Sand is a scarce resource, extracted from rivers and coasts at rates that exceed its natural renewal. Yet, little is understood about the political economy of sand extraction, the livelihood vulnerabilities produced, or why sand grabbing is occurring at unprecedented rates in particular locations. Drawing together literature on global production network approaches in economic geography and debates on sustainable livelihoods in development geography--two literatures rarely in conversation with one another--we reveal the links between new, globalized, cross-border articulations of poverty and prosperity and the sand trade. We situate our sand case in Southeast Asia across three sites, namely in: Singapore, the world’s top sand importer; Cambodia, a top-ten global exporter of sand; and an emerging exporter, Myanmar. We examine how sand mining impacts, directly and indirectly, a range of livelihoods, specifically fisheries in Cambodia, riverbank agriculture in Myanmar, and migrant labor...
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ABSTRACT
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Research Interests: Management, Earth Sciences, Decision Making, Action Research, Agricultural Development, and 17 moreSoutheast Asia, Vietnam, Urbanization, Strategy, Planning, Urbanisation, Environmental Sciences, Models, FISH, Far East, Resources, Ecosystems, Focus, Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management, Strain, Top Down, and Foyer
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Research Interests: Transformative Learning, Violence, Fisheries, Environmental Management, Waste Management, and 19 moreMultidisciplinary, Environmental Governance, Learning, Resource use, Social behavior, Humans, Case Study, Animals, Fishes, Fishery Management, Floods, Resource Management, Ecosystem, Fish Community, Social Behavior, Conservation of Natural Resources, Learning Outcome, Sustainability, and Conflict Psychology
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... Donor agencies (for example, the World Bank, IDRC, CIDA, the Worldwide Fund for Nature) have been supporting community-based projects throughout Asia (Agrawal and Gibson 1999), based on the assumption that resource users are in a... more
... Donor agencies (for example, the World Bank, IDRC, CIDA, the Worldwide Fund for Nature) have been supporting community-based projects throughout Asia (Agrawal and Gibson 1999), based on the assumption that resource users are in a better position to manage the ...
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Executive Summary 1. This report has been prepared for the Rural Poverty and Environment Program (RPE) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). It reviews current activity, strategies and research themes/questions related... more
Executive Summary 1. This report has been prepared for the Rural Poverty and Environment Program (RPE) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). It reviews current activity, strategies and research themes/questions related to the problems of indigenous ...
This paper examines Cambodia’s current carbon pathway and considers if Cambodia could move towards a low carbon future. We do so by examining two of Cambodia’s largest carbon emitting sectors: energy and transportation. We argue that... more
This paper examines Cambodia’s current carbon pathway and considers if Cambodia could move towards a low carbon future. We do so by examining two of Cambodia’s largest carbon emitting sectors: energy and transportation. We argue that Cambodia has a unique window of opportunity to pursue a low carbon pathway given that, despite significant economic growth, the country is currently producing less CO2 per capita compared to most other countries across Asia. Cambodia could benefit greatly (in economic, social, and environmental terms) from adopting a low carbon pathway. Promising harbingers are present, such as recent shifts to hydropower, adoption of urban master plans, and citizen frustration with traffic congestion and poor air quality that may enable public buy-in for innovative lowcarbon solutions. Achieving this will require sharpened and harmonized policy, approaching all planning activities from a low-carbon perspective, and support (both institutional and financial) from regional bodies and multilateral organizations.