Case Study Overview
With semi-structured interviews of 49 urban fishers intercepted while plying the banks of the Niagara River, this case study investigates two research questions about perceptions of risk, benefit, and value. The cohort of interviewees are of all adult ages, several ethnicities and cultures, and largely men with a handful of women fishers. All are currently Buffalo residents. A follow up focus group of seven Karen (a Burmese diaspora ethnicity) fishers and local fish consumers investigated emergent findings about unusual fishing and fish consumption practices in that community.
Preliminary ResultsWe found that role of a bait and forage fish species, emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides) in the Niagara River social-ecological system shows how policy in the North American Great Lakes is, and sometimes is not, meeting the needs of urban shore fishers. Fishing was very important to most of our fishers, and not just for fun or recreation. Fishing helped by supplementing food, offering stress relief and exercise, a practice of cultural or family heritage, and community building time. Concurrently, interviewees described a variety of perceptions about the risk of eating toxic contaminants in locally caught fish. Some fishers fear to eat any local fish, some eat more than recommended, and yet others successfully follow water body specific consumption advisories. There are no regulations or consumption advisories for emerald shiners, but there is notable social tension over their take, apparently damaging relationships within the fishing community.
With a deeper understanding of these specific gaps and concerns, future policy and research could focus on specific concerns, address accepted misinformation, and bridge to communities whose understanding is inadequate or whose fish consumption preferences or needs are poorly matched with local fish consumption advisory goals. Ideally, a more community-focused effort could build closer relationships between the fish, the people who catch them, the public health officials aiming to care for those people, and the managers who are responsible for maintaining the fishery. |
Questions or for more information, contact: Jeanne Coffin-Schmitt ([email protected])