Migrants to the Coast
Migrants to the Coasts Overview and Discussion There are three goals Eder presents in his fieldwork. They were to ; (1) “understand fishing and the fishing peoples”(Eder 5), how they lived and how their resources affected their day to day lives,(2) The Palawan’s culture had become diverse and he thought it was important he showed appreciation for what it had become. (3) Last, but not least, he wanted to be more involved with research issues such as “environmental crisis, economic difficulty, and social well-being”(Eder 5). Eder explains these motives throughout the text.
In the second chapter Eder explains how the marine wildlife , full of sea grasses and coral reef play a vital role in the food chains for the animals inhabiting it. The author further explains that the “coastal zone” occupies the coastal plains as well as the water itself. He explains that there is a local distinction between the four types vegetative cover. Eder was able to get both the fishing peoples and the government official’s perspective of the coastal zone, and how they can preserve the area. In San Vicente there are ten communities with a total population of just fewer than 22,000.
Here, Eder selects four of the communities in which he studies the people living within them. He provides a clear understanding of his fieldwork in which he works directly with the people of San Vicente. In order to truly understand their culture, Eder listened to their stories in addition to exploring the history of the people and the place itself. To investigate Eder’s motive of engaging in economic research, he looked into many different prominent industries of the region. One of these industries is fishing. As a reader I could easily envision the beautiful coast and its waters used for fishing.
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The fishing peoples used the resources of the coast in a way to build their economic culture. I think the author could have focused on fewer topics and covered them more in depth, opposed to going over so many. Altogether, the lives of the people and the visuals of their surrounding were enchanting. How Global Forces Impact Local Lives in San Vicente The Philippines is abundant in natural resources, but the people are among the poorest in Southeast Asia. Problems arise when these resources are no longer abundant and taken advantage of. When the logging industry in the 1960s became a top exporter, the license agreements were very corrupt.
Instead of using the money to fund programs for the people, the president would distribute the revenue to his own inner circle. The mining industry brought in more money for the wealthy, but at a cost. The businesses were privatized so the profit stayed within. Environmental care was not seen as an issue, and dump mine wastes ruined bays and once plentiful farmlands. The poor essentially became even poorer. Illegal commercial fishing is also a problem among the coastal areas. Fishing for trawler fish is legal at open sea, “but the national law reserves water within 15 kilometers of the coast”(49).
Fish are a major resource and illegal fishing has led the fish population into a downward spiral. Commercial fishing and blast fisherman have severely limited the opportunities to the local people who depend on it. Much of the coastal people make their living by fishing on a small scale. Competition between the people and the market is created due to the vast amount of fishermen in the area. Fishing practices and economic stability differed among the fishing peoples. For example, one man could be struggling to support his family, even by fishing every day, while another is making a considerable living fishing and doesn’t nearly work as often.
Because of the privatized companies and the recourses they had, difficulties arose for small time fisherman and led them into poverty. Global forces seemed to restrict the fishing peoples in many ways. They did not open opportunities to the coastal people. The coastal people then had make a living the best way they knew how. With extreme completion, fish prices became inflated, making the people even poorer. The Philippine government needs to intervene, not by shutting down illegal fishing, but by forming programs to help its people.
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Migrants to the Coast. (2018, Jun 24). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/migrants-to-the-coast/
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