The social construction of risk: A local perspective of the vulnerability of artisanal fisheries to climate change

Abstract

The growing vulnerability of societies to climate change constitutes a global concern. Artisanal fishers experience extreme vulnerability due to their exposure to multiple threats with severe consequences for their families and rural communities. Given that these risks subsist despite governmental mitigation measures in the coastal zone, we used a qualitative integrative approach to analyze the vulnerability of the fishers of Barra de Frontera in the southern Gulf of Mexico and their adaptation strategies to climate change. Through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with key local actors, fishers were found to have had to constantly adapt to (1) unfavorable environmental conditions caused by periodic floods and tropical storms; (2) the consequences of the overexploitation of key fishing resources; and (3) external factors like the creation of exclusion fishing zones and the use of explosives by the offshore petroleum industry, all of which hinder fishers from engaging in their livelihoods. The synergistic effects of these stressors, in addition to the existing marginalization and coercive working conditions, place these fishers at risk of losing their heritage, family, and lives. The survival capacity of fishers primarily depends on their efforts and, to a small degree, on state support, which focuses on a very narrow understanding of local adaptive capacities and is particularly difficult for free fishers and women to access. Despite these challenges, fishers have remained persistent in creating a culture that provides work for local inhabitants and food for the nation.