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Abstract
Coral reef fish and the aquarium trade: ecological impacts andsocio-cultural influences in southern Sri Lanka
James Alexander Edward Howard
The chronic degradation of coral reefs globally and its negative impact on coastal
communities such as those in southern Sri Lanka dependent on the marine ornamental
trade for their livelihood forms the focus of this study. Attempts to improve the
conservation status of Sri Lanka's coral reefs and their associated fauna have failed
because they omit to address the social circumstances of local people. Such social-
ecological systems require an integrated approach, hich provides holistic reasons forthe degradation of natural ecosystems and livelihoods of coastal people. The aim of this
study as therefore to ascertain the current sustainability of the marine ornamental trade
in southern Sri Lanka through an interdisciplinary study employing a participatory
bottom-up approach, and derive from findings alternative pathays to restore and
maintain the health of the reef and thus provide better livelihoods for the fishing
communities.
!indings confirm both the fragile state of nearshore coral reefs, their fish populations
and the precarious nature of local communities" livelihoods. #istorical and recent
environmental and anthropogenic impacts reduced resilience in all trade sectors and
current fishing practices and the un$ust supply chain compound these effects.
Therefore, a holistic co-management frameork is recommended that recognises local
ecological knoledge and involves fishing communities as citi%en scientists to improve
monitoring and also provides communication channels to facilitate interaction ithin
and across all groups of the ornamental trade. &n this ay, all actors are involved in
making decisions and taking responsibility for the management of the supply chain at
their particular level. This single, coherent frameork ould thus employ diverse
groups and ays of doing as a resilience strategy to halt the degradation and
reinvigorate the reef for more sustainable utilisation hilst simultaneously developing
highly acceptable alternative income generating livelihoods such as the community-
based aquaculture eperiment undertaken during this study.
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Coral reef fish and the aquarium trade:
ecological impacts andsocio-cultural
influences in southern Sri Lanka
James A. E. Howard
hesis su!mitted for the degree of"octor of #hilosoph$
"epartment of Anthropolog$and
School of %iological & %iomedical Sciences
"urham 'ni(ersit$Septem!er )*+)
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Table of Contents
List of !igures..............................................................................................................i
List of Tables.............................................................................................................iii
List of Acronyms......................................................................................................vii(eclaration..................................................................................................................
Acknoledgements....................................................................................................i
(edication................................................................................................................iv
Chapter 1: - Introduction...........................................................................................1
).) *reface................................................................................................................)
).+ a$or themes of the thesis.................................................................................+
). ationale and unique focus of the thesis............................................................/
).0 1b$ectives of the study.......................................................................................2
)./ 1vervie of the thesis........................................................................................3
Chapter 2: - Literature Review................................................................................13
+.) &ntroduction......................................................................................................)
+.).) 4oral structure and physiology.................................................................)
+.).+ #uman interactions ith coral reefs.........................................................)0
+.+ Status of coral reefs orldide........................................................................)5
+. Status of reefs in Sri Lanka..............................................................................)2
+..) eef fisheries............................................................................................)6
+..+ 1rnamental fishery in Sri Lanka..............................................................)6
+.0 Threats to coral reefs........................................................................................)3
+.0.) 7nvironmental threats...............................................................................)3
+.0.+ Anthropogenic threats...............................................................................+8
+./ Threats in Sri Lanka.........................................................................................+)
+.5 &mpacts on coral reefs......................................................................................+)
+.5.) 1verfishing...............................................................................................+)
+.5.+ Trophic cascades.......................................................................................++
+.5. 1rnamental trade......................................................................................+
+.5.0 4oral bleaching.........................................................................................+0
+.2 &mpacts on Sri Lankan reefs.............................................................................+/
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+.2.) 1verfishing on Sri Lankan reefs...............................................................+5
+.6 Alternating stable states of coral reefs.............................................................+5
+.3 4oral reef management....................................................................................+2
+.)8 anagement of Sri Lankan reefs...................................................................+6
+.)) 9ho is to blame for the state of the commons:.............................................+3+.)+ *ast and current management failures............................................................8
+.) Theoretical frameork...................................................................................
+.).) #istorical ecology...................................................................................
+.).+ *anarchy................................................................................................./
+.).+.) esilience........................................................................................2
+.).+.+ !orms of resilience.........................................................................3
+.).+. 9ays to foster resilience.................................................................08+.).+.0 anaging resilience........................................................................0)
+.).+./ esilience in coral reef systems......................................................0)
+.)0 Local knoledge............................................................................................0+
+.)0.) Local ecological knoledge among tropical reef fishers.......................0/
+.)0.+ Traditional forms of management..........................................................02
+.)/ *olitical ecology.............................................................................................06
+.)5 !isheries governance....................................................................................../8
+.)5.) #ierarchical governance........................................................................./8
+.)5.+ arket-based governance......................................................................./8
+.)5. *articipatory governance......................................................................../)
+.)2 4onclusion....................................................................................................../0
Chapter 3: - A narrative on the development of the project’ method...............!"
.) Statement of *urpose ......................................................................................./5
.+ !irst field season;
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.+.6 (aily routine and participant observation................................................5/
.+.3 &ndirect recording of catch........................................................................5/
.+.)8 1ut-season and semi-structured intervies @SS&s.................................55
.+.)) !ocus groups...........................................................................................56
.+.)+ Alternative livelihood trial......................................................................53.+.) &ndependent reef fishing observations....................................................53
. Socio-ecology of the villages...........................................................................28
..) 9ay of life of divers.................................................................................2
.0 7thnography of village sites ............................................................................23
.0.) #ikkadua................................................................................................23
.0.+ Bapparathota.............................................................................................68
.0. Thalaramba...............................................................................................6+.0.0 *olhena.....................................................................................................6
./ Second field season; Covember +883 = April +8)8.........................................60
./.) *articipant observation.............................................................................6/
./.+ eef surveys and ornamental tank setup..................................................6/
./. !isher shadoing trips..............................................................................66
./.0 1rnamental fish tank aquaculture trial.....................................................66
././ &ntervies.................................................................................................63
.5 !ollo up field season; Covember = (ecember +8)8.....................................38
.2 Anthropological data analysis..........................................................................3)
.6 A marine ornamental fish's $ourney..................................................................3+
Chapter #: - $ocial hitor% and hitorical ecolo&% of the ornamental fiher% in
$ri Lan'a...................................................................................................................(!
0.) &ntroduction......................................................................................................3/
0.+ Social history of the villages............................................................................32
0. 7ffects of Tourism .........................................................................................)88
0.0 #istorical ecology of diving in Sri Lanka......................................................)8)
0.0.) *earl fishery in Sri Lanka.......................................................................)8+
0.0.+ 1rnamental fishery.................................................................................)80
0.0. The effect of the civil ar.......................................................................)85
0.0.0 1ther historical impacts on the ecology of the reefs..............................)82
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0.0./ are environmental events.....................................................................))8
0./ 4onclusion......................................................................................................))
Chapter !: - )he effect of ornamental diver* +ehaviour on catch rate and the
reilience of aociated coral reef.........................................................................11!
/.) &ntroduction....................................................................................................))/
/.).) &mpacts of fishing and vies of fishers and fishing...............................))5
/.).+ &nclusion of Local 7cological Bnoledge @L7B in fisheries
monitoring.......................................................................................................))2
/.). Social compleity behind fishing behaviour and activity......................))2
/.).0 4oncept of resilience in both fishing and management..........................))6
/.)./ The need to build resilience in the ornamental fishery in Sri Lanka......))3/.).5 Aims........................................................................................................)+8
/.+ ethods and (ata analysis.............................................................................)+)
/. esults............................................................................................................)+
/..) Shadoed snorkelling trips....................................................................)+
/..+ 4atch per unit effort @4*?7 and overall fishing pressure....................)+2
/.. 7ffect of divers' behaviour on fishing pressure and resilience...............)+3
/..0 4atch composition of shadoed fishing trips........................................)0
/../ (ivers' behaviour and habitat damage....................................................)6
/..5 Self aareness of behaviours and coral damage....................................)0+
/.0 (iscussion......................................................................................................)05
/.0.) &mpact of fishery on reef ecology...........................................................)05
/.0.+ 1ptimal foraging or resource conservation:..........................................)06
/.0. 7cological esilience.............................................................................)/8
/.0.0 (eriving local ecological knoledge ....................................................)/+
/.0./ Social resilience......................................................................................)/
/.0.5 4ultural resilience...................................................................................)/0
/.0.2 Local versus global effects on the fishery..............................................)//
/./ 4onclusion......................................................................................................)/5
Chapter ": - Complementar% cientific and local 'nowled&e to determine the
tatu of reef ite and the potential of diver to +ecome ,citien cientit... .1!/
5.) &ntroduction....................................................................................................)/2
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5.+ ethods..........................................................................................................)58
5.+.) Study area...............................................................................................)58
5.+.+ Sampling design and underater visual census method........................)58
5.+. Substrate surveys....................................................................................)5
5.+.0 Statistical analysis of data......................................................................)505.+./ Anthropological methodology ...............................................................)55
5.+./.) !ocus groups...................................................................................)55
5. esults of ?nderater Disual 4ensus !ish and #abitat Surveys...................)52
5..) 1verall patterns......................................................................................)52
5..+ #abitat differences and similarities among sites....................................)2
5.. 4omparison of fish diversity and evenness among sites and substrates )22
5..0 (ifferences in species richness, abundance and biomass among sites andsubstrates.........................................................................................................)26
5../ 4omparisons of abundance and biomass by family group.....................)6+
5..5 4omparisons of density and biomass by functional group.....................)65
5..2 Eeneralised linear mied model @EL results.................................)63
5.0 (ivers' knoledge of their village aters......................................................)3)
5.0.) !ish breeding knoledge........................................................................)3)
5.0.+ (ivers' conception of the reef and their perception as to its current
health...............................................................................................................)3)
5.0. Time-line of reef and fishing conditions................................................)3/
5.0.0 L7B contrast beteen young and old divers..........................................)35
5.0./ Bnoledge generation among ornamental divers..................................)36
5.0.5 (ivers' mental maps of the reefs............................................................+8)
5./ (iscussion......................................................................................................+8/
5.5 4onclusion......................................................................................................+)5
Chapter /: - )he intricacie of the mar'et chain and it influence on the marine
ornamental fiher%..................................................................................................21/
2.) &ntroduction....................................................................................................+)2
2.).) The division beteen the industry and conservationists........................+)6
2.).+ Elobal trade and the ornamental fish industry.......................................++8
2.). Aims........................................................................................................++5
2.+ ethods..........................................................................................................++5
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2. esults............................................................................................................++6
2..) Snorkel catches among sites...................................................................++6
2..+ Snorkel catches among buyers...............................................................++
2.. S4?FA catch among sites......................................................................+0
2..0 S4?FA catch among buyers .................................................................+62../ 7stimate of marine ornamental fish collected in Sri Lanka in one year
from logbook data............................................................................................+3
2..5 7stimate of ornamental fish volumes from intervies ith buyers.......+0)
2..2 1rnamental fish volumes estimates from intervies ith eporters.....+0)
2..6 7stimate of ornamental fish volumes eported from Sri Lanka from
official statistics...............................................................................................+00
2..3 !urther data taken from buyer's logbooks and intervies ith buyers andeporters..........................................................................................................+0/
2..3.) ortality.........................................................................................+0/
2..3.+ Eender selectivity > si%e of fish caught.........................................+02
2..)8 elations beteen the different levels of the market chain in Sri
Lanka...............................................................................................................+03
2..)8.) (ivers and village buyers.............................................................+/8
2..)8.+ (ivers, suppliers and eport companies.......................................+/)
2..)8. 7port companies and foreign importers......................................+/0
2..)) *oer of the buyers and eporters.......................................................+/0
2..)+ !ish pricing system...............................................................................+//
2..) Fusiness tra$ectories.............................................................................+/6
2.0 (iscussion......................................................................................................+58
2.0.) 4omparison of snorkel catches among sites and buyers........................+58
2.0.+ 4atch and trade volumes estimates.........................................................+5
2.0. elations among all sectors....................................................................+55
2.0.0 !ish pricing.............................................................................................+52
2.0./ (ynamics of poer and debt ithin the market chain...........................+56
2.0.5 !uture ays............................................................................................+53
Chapter 0: - olitical ecolo&% and &overnance of the ornamental fiher%.........2/1
6.) &ntroduction....................................................................................................+2)
6.).) *olitical ecology of the ornamental fishery............................................+2)
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6.+ Signs of change for the ornamental fishery:..................................................+2+
6. *ast and current governance of the marine ornamental fishery in Sri Lanka +65
6..) CAA.....................................................................................................+62
6..+ (!A......................................................................................................+66
6.. 4oast 4onservation (epartment.............................................................+636..0 Sri Lanka 4ustoms.................................................................................+38
6../ Las and regulations..............................................................................+3)
6..5 4ompliance ith the las......................................................................+3+
6..2 &nteraction of all the players...................................................................+30
6.0 4ontinuing problems in the ornamental fishery.............................................+3/
6.0.) (!A 's perception of the problem and high task load..........................+3/
6.0.+ 4ontinuing trade in Gcut-floerH species ..............................................+356.0. !ishing don the coral reef value chain.................................................+35
6.0.0 7nforcement and political interference..................................................+32
6.0./ &nappropriate restricted species lists.......................................................+36
6./ (ynamic sustainabilities................................................................................+33
6.5 4onclusion......................................................................................................8
Chapter (: - on-monetar% +enefit of fihin& and the potential of alternative
livelihood................................................................................................................3#
3.) &ntroduction....................................................................................................80
3.+ ethods .........................................................................................................8/
3.
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3.0..+ 1ther challenges.............................................................................+)
3.0.. Attitudes and skills of home-tank oners.......................................++
3.0..0 !uture initiative...............................................................................+
3./ 4onclusion......................................................................................................+0
Chapter 1: - Concluion........................................................................................32"
)8.) &ntroduction..................................................................................................+5
)8.+ Summary of main findings ..........................................................................+2
)8. ecommendations for the ornamental fishery in Sri Lanka.........................+
)8..) Small-scale freshater fish aquaculture.............................................../
)8..+ Tourist reef guides................................................................................5
)8.. eef restoration....................................................................................5)8..0 7ducation and training..........................................................................5
)8.0 Elobal applicability of the results and approaches used..............................6
)8./ eflection of the research process................................................................08
Appendi A..........................................................................................................0+
Appendi F..........................................................................................................05
Appendi 4..........................................................................................................03
Appendi (........................................................................................................../+
Appendi 7.........................................................................................................../0
Appendi !.........................................................................................................../6
Appendi E..........................................................................................................5+
Appendi #..........................................................................................................5/
eferences............................................................................................................52
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List of Figures
!ig +.) elationship beteen catch per unit effort @4*?7 andabundance, Source; Sadovy, @+88/............................................ )
!ig +.+ Adaptive cycle of comple S7S. Source; Eunderson >#olling, @+88+............................................................................ 2
!ig +. The stability landscape; basins of attraction,ith edges beteen them and shoing L @latitude, @resistance and *r@precariousness. Adapted from 9alker et al., @+880............... 3
!ig .). ap of Sri Lanka ith ma$or tons and cities related to theornamental fish trade marked. Study sites are shon in theenlarged section, as ell as other ornamental fishing villages;?9 I ?naatunaJ T I TalpeJ F( I Fandaramulla and d I
adihaJ and nearby tons; E I EalleJ 9 I 9eligamaJ Iatara and ( I (ondra.............................................................. 5+
!ig .+. ap of study sites in the south-est region of Sri Lanka andeach study site individually. The sea area shon encompassesthe nearshore coral reef area here snorkellers operate forfished sites or the etent of the marine protected area at#ikkadua.................................................................................. 2+
!ig . 1rnamental diver placing the moy net over a hiding fish. Cotethe float attached to the centre of the net and the lead eightsalong the edge of the net............................................................. 20
!ig .0 Stilt fishers at ork in the early evening during the S9monsoon, *olhena....................................................................... 25
!ig 0.). Artist's impression of the 4eylon *earl !ishery published inThe Eraphic ++ 1ct )662, London, 7ngland. The picturedepicts the cre on a dive boat and divers in the ater near theedge of the boat as ell as descending and collecting oysters@insets ......................................................................................... )80
!ig /.). ean number of fish caught per trip hour among @a sites and@b snorkellers, each letter denotes a different individual. Sitecodes; B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba.
!isher codes; K I Koung, I id, 1 I 1ld.............................. )+6!ig /.+. ean number of fish caught per net thro per trip among @a
sites and @b snorkellers, each letter denotes a differentindividual. Site codes; B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TLI Thalaramba. !isher codes; K I Koung, I id, 1 I 1ld..... )+3
!igs /.a Snorkelling fishing trip routes in Bapparathota's nearshoreaters. 7ach coloured line is a separate snorkelling trip. 1nlyseven trips are shon for clarity. !ish sale points are the fish
buyers' locations in the village..................................................... )
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!ig /.b Snorkelling fishing trip routes in *olhena's nearshore aters.7ach coloured line is a separate snorkelling trip. !ish sale
points are the fish buyers' locations in the village....................... )
!ig /.c Snorkelling fishing trip routes in Thalaramba's nearshoreaters. 7ach coloured line is a separate snorkelling trip. !ishsale points are the fish buyers' locations in the village................ )0
!ig /.0. @a ean coral breaks @ 3/M 4.&. per trip hour by snorkellersamong sites. Site codes; B*I Bapparathota, *1I *olhena,TLI Thalaramba @b ean ater changes of holding bag @3/M 4.&. per trip hour by different aged and eperienceddivers over all sites...................................................................... )08
!ig /./ Locations here fish ere caught, here coral as damaged orhere both events occurred at the same point from shadoedsnorkelling trips in nearshore aters at all three fished sites.G1therH denotes non-fish organisms collected. !ish sale pointsare the buyers' location................................................................ )00
!ig 5.). #abitat composition among reef sites epressed as percentagecover from census sites. Site codes are; #B I #ikkadua, B*I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba...................... )2/
!ig 5.+. ean cover of @a live coral, @b dead coral, @c rubble, @dmacro-algae, @e structural compleity and @f mean verticalheight among the four reef sites. Site codes are; #B I#ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL IThalaramba ................................................................................. )25
!ig 5.. eef fish diversity among substrates at each site. Solid dots
indicate the median and open dots indicate outliers. Substratecodes are; (4 I (ead coral, L4 I Live coral, I ubble, S ISand. Site codes are; #B I #ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota,*1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba................................................. )26
!ig 5.0. Catural log transformed reef fish mean density amongsubstrates ithin sites for all fish censused. Substrate codes;(4 I (ead coral, L4 I Live coral, I ubble, S I Sand. Sitecodes; #B I #ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena,TL I Thalaramba......................................................................... )23
!ig 5./. ean reef fish biomass among sites and habitats for all species
censused in the survey. 7rror bars denote standard error.Substrate codes; (4 I (ead coral, L4 I Live coral, Iubble, S I Sand. Site codes; #B I #ikkadua, B* IBapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba.......................... )68
!ig 5.5. elative M abundance by family groups for each @a site and@b substrate. The families contributing to beteen 68 and 3/Mtotal abundance are shon. Site codes; #B I #ikkadua, B* IBapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba. Substratecodes are; (4 I (ead coral, L4 I Live coral, I ubble, S ISand............................................................................................. )60
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!ig 5.2. elative M biomass by family groups for each @a site and @bsubstrate. The families contributing to beteen 68 and 3/Mtotal biomass are shon. Site codes; #B I #ikkadua, B* IBapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba. Substratecodes are; (4 I (ead coral, L4 I Live coral, I ubble, S ISand............................................................................................. )6/
!ig 5.6. ean density @fish. 3 m-+ of different functional groups amongsubstrates ithin sites. Substrate codes; (4 I (ead coral, L4I Live coral, I ubble, S I Sand. Site codes; #B I#ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL IThalaramba ................................................................................. )62
!ig 5.3. ean biomass @g. m-+ of different functional groups amongsubstrates ithin sites. Substrate codes; (4 I (ead coral, L4I Live coral, I ubble, S I Sand. Site codes; #B I#ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL IThalaramba ................................................................................. )66
!ig 5.)8. ap of Bapparathota village and snorkellers' fishing areas. Cumbers )-5 denote fish buyer sites in order of ealth. 4irclesand curved dark lines denote rocks.............................................. +8+
!ig 5.)). ap of *olhena village and snorkellers' fishing areas. Cumbers)-0 denote fish buyer sites........................................................... +8
!ig 5.)+. ap of Thalaramba village and snorkellers' fishing areas. Cumbers )-/ denote fish buyer sites. All the circular shapes arerocks. Fron triangular boats mark boat entry points and boatroads @GparaHs are marked ith dotted lines. 9hite shapes are
live coral areas............................................................................. +80!ig 5.). 4hange in live coral cover since )332 @pre-bleaching, after+880 @tsunami and +8)8 @this study at each study site. Sitecodes; #BI #ikkadua, B*IBapparathota, *1I *olhena,TLIThalaramba. Kears marked are years hen reef surveysere carried out. Sources; a$asuriya, et al. @+888J +88+J +88/J+886 and this study..................................................................... +86
!ig 2.). ean number of fish caught @ S.7. @bars and mean earnings@ 3/M 4.&. @LB per snorkelling trip among sites. Sitecodes; F( I Fandaramulla, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena,
TL I Thalaramba. 4&s from replicate trips.................................. +8!ig 2.+. ean number of fish caught @ S.7. @bars and mean earnings
@ 3/M 4.&. @LB per snorkelling trip among buyers. Fuyercodes; A I Fandaramulla, F-(I Bapparathota, !-E I *olhena,#-< I Thalaramba. 4&s from replicate trips................................. +8
!ig 2.. The basic structure of the marine ornamental trade marketchain in Sri Lanka, ith estimated numbers involved in eachsector of the ornamental fish trade in the southern region of SriLanka. Source of numbers; CAA, Sri Lanka @+8)8................ +03
!ig 2.0. Dalue of the Sri Lankan rupee @LB against the ?S dollar
beteen )32) and +8)8. Source; 1fficer, @+8))........................ +58
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!ig 6.). An information sign erected in +8)8 shoing the efforts of thene co-management pro$ect and government and institutional
participants. The sign is located along the main path to the bayin Bapparathota here boats are moored and divers enter theater ........................................................................................... 88
!ig 3.). Foplot of medians,quartiles and ranges of respondentsansers. The data shos the relative prioritisation by divers offactors relating to diving as an occupation at all sites.&mportance scale; ) I most important and 6 I least important.!actor codes; A I#aving little money in the out-season F I4ontinued eistence of coral reefs, 4 I 7arning money foryourself, (I Lo fish prices, 7 I 7arning money for family, !I (esire to find an alternative $ob, E I &nequity in supplychain system, # I #aving an accident at sea. espondents @nI 2.............................................................................................. 86
!ig 3.+. (ivers reasons for choosing their $ob, in order of importance.
&mportance scale; ) I most important and 5 I least important.!amily time means ability to spend more time ith family thanother $obs. espondents @n I 2................................................. 83
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List of Tables
Table ).). 4hapter numbers in hich each aim of the study is addressed andthe level of integration of the to disciplines ithin each chapter
and aim............................................................................................... 3Table .). ?ser groups ith involvement in the ornamental fishery that &
interacted ith at each study site. Cumbers indicate the quantity of people interacted ith during the study out of a total number of people constituting that group at each site, indicated in brackets.Asterisks indicate estimated numbers. 4olombo and Cegombo areincluded to sho the concentration of eport companies andgovernment departments at these locations. To other reef sites@F( > ?9 ith loer numbers of divers are included to providesome comparison to the main four study sites. Site codes; #B I#ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba,41 I 4olombo, C7E I Cegombo, F( I Fandaramulla, ?9I?naatuna.......................................................................................... 26
Table /.). Site comparisons of directly observed snorkellers catch data. Sitecodes; B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba. !ishsi%es are total lengths@TL.................................................................. )+0
Table /.+. esults of *oisson and linear regressions of snorkeller fishingstatistics compared across sites @reference site I Bapparathota andacross ageN eperience categories @reference group I id............... )+/
Table /.. EL Eaussian regression results comparing 4*?7 t and 4*?7n
across sites and across ageN eperience categories. odel referencesite I GBapparathotaH and model reference age I GidH................... )+2
Table /.0. 1verall maimum fishing pressure epressed as hours fished perunit area per unit time for each site. Site codes; B* IBapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba................................ )+
Table /./. Ten most frequently caught species of fish and invertebrates, fromdirect observations across all sites. !unctional group key; #F I#erbivore, &CD I &nvertivore. Sale prices gathered from buyerslogbooks and directly from divers and averaged across si%e and site
price differentials. *rices in LB I Sri Lankan upee, ?SO)I))
LB.................................................................................................... )/Table /.5. Top +8 most caught species, si%es and electivity indices @7i from
33 shadoed fishing trips across all sites. All lengths are totallengths. Lm I Total length @cm at first maturity calculated fromLinf and von Fertalanffy equation @!roese > *auly, )332. ealdata Lm I actual knon si%e at maturity @!roese > *auly)332................................................................................................... )2
Table /.2. *oisson and Eaussian regression model results of snorkellers' behaviours and damage compared across sites and age. eferencesite I GBapparathotaH and reference age I GidH............................. )3
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Table /.6. ean values of coral damage measures and different fishing behaviours among sites and among divers of different age andeperience. Koung I )0-)2 yrs old > )-0 yrs eperience, id I )2-+6 yrs old > 0-)8 yrs eperience, 1ld I 8-/8 yrs old > )8-8 yrseperience........................................................................................... )0)
Table /.3. 4omparison of total fish caught, total coral pieces broken and otherornamental organisms collected during E*S recorded shado trips.! I !ish and shrimps, 4 I 4oral, 1ther I lobsters, octopus,urchins, starfish collected................................................................... )0/
Table 5.). Cumber of replicates performed at each reef site and substrategroup during the ?D4 surveys........................................................... )5+
Table 5.+. !ish species observed in the ?D4s, their maimum length @Lmafrom @Allen > Steene, )330J Allen et al., +88J !roese > *auly,)332J Anderson, )335, their assigned functional group, main targetfishery, their biomass as a percent of total family biomass and their
percent ubiquity over all )66 point count sites. !ishery role codes;1! I 1rnamental fishery, !11( I !ood fishery, CT I Cottargeted. !unctional group codes; #F I #erbivore, *L I*lanktivore, *& I *iscivore, &C I &nvertivore, 41I 4orallivore,1 I 1mnivore.................................................................................
)56-)2
Table 5.. Average percentage cover and standard deviations ith ranks givenof substrate component types across the four study nearshore reefs.Site codes; #B I #ikkadua, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena,TL I Thalaramba. (ifferences among sites ere measured usingone-ay AC1DA after percentages ere arcsin transformed @levelof significance; p P 8.8/, n.s I not significant.. G1therH category
includes corallimorpharians................................................................ )20Table 5.0. ean Shannon- 9iener @ H' diversity and *ielou's @ J 7venness
measures of reef fish encountered at each site and substratecombination and its associated measure of evenness......................... )22
Table 5./. Spearman rank correlation summary beteen reef fish assemblagemeasures and habitat variables from all reef sites. @n I )66.Significant correlations are marked for p P .8) QQ and p P .88) QQQ.#abitat variables codes; S4 I Structural compleityJ D#T Isubstrate maimum vertical heightJ L4 I live coral coverJ (4 Idead coralJ S4( I substrate composition diversityJ Temp I
temperature @ R4................................................................................. )6Table 5.5. Eeneralised linear mied model results of overall abundance
compared across site and substrate ith species set as the randomeffect................................................................................................... )63
Table 5.2. Linear mied model results of biomass compared across site andsubstrate ith species set as the random effect.................................. )38
Table 5.6. Seasonal calendar shoing sea and eather conditions and themonths hen main target fish breed according to ornamental diversat three reef sites. Site codes; B* I Bapparathota, *1 I *olhena,
TL I Thalaramba. !ish names are local names used by divers..........
)3-
)30
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Table 5.3. Timeline comparison of conditions and factors beteen )/ yearsago and today, affecting ornamental divers in Bapparathota,*olhena and Thalaramba, ith brief reasons given for each, derivedfrom focus groups and discussions ith divers.................................. +88
Table 5.)8. 4omplementarity of scientific knoledge and L7B for populationmonitoring @adapted from oller et al. +880.................................... +)/
Table 2.). Elobal estimates of the overall value of the ornamental fish trade@marine and freshater combined. (ata derived from officialcountry and !ood and Agriculture 1rganisation @!A1 statistics,hich are often based on eight and value data, from hichestimates of fish numbers are made.................................................... +++
Table 2.+. 7stimates of the value of the marine ornamental trade in varioussource countries as ell as global estimates from earlier studies....... +++
Table 2.. 4omparison of concerns, research needs and managementsuggestions stated in reports on the Sri Lankan and global marine
ornamental fishery over +/ years....................................................... ++0Table 2.0. *oisson and Eaussian regression model results comparing snorkel
catch data recorded by buyers among sites. Site codes; B* IBapparathota, *1 I *olhena, TL I Thalaramba. Fandaramulla isthe reference site in the model............................................................ ++3
Table 2./. eans and standard deviations of the three factors recorded in buyer's logbooks at each site for snorkelling ornamental fish catch.Site codes; F( I Fandaramulla, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I*olhena, TL I Thalaramba. (ata are for the +883N)8 season............. +)
Table 2.5. eans and standard deviations of snorkellers fish catch datacompared across all buyers. Fuyer codes; A I Fandaramulla buyer,F-(I Bapparathota buyers, 7-E I *olhena buyers, #-< IThalaramba buyers. (ata are for the +883N)8 season. All earningsgiven in LB @?SO) I )) LB based on +8)8 ?SO ; LBechange rates................................................................................... +)
Table 2.2. *oisson and Eaussian regression model results comparing catchstatistics of snorkellers among buyers. A I Fandaramulla buyer, F-(I Bapparathota buyers, !-E I *olhena buyers, #-< I Thalaramba
buyers. Fuyer 7 removed as nI)...................................................... +
Table 2.6. *oisson and Eaussian regression model results of catch statistics ofS4?FA divers compared across sites. B* I Bapparathota, TL IThalaramba. eference site I *olhena............................................... +/
Table 2.3. eans and standard deviations of the three factors recorded in buyer's logbooks at each site for S4?FA caught ornamental fishcatch. Site codes; F( I Fandaramulla, B* I Bapparathota, *1 I*olhena, TL I Thalaramba. (ata are for the +883N)8 season............ +5
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Table 2.)8. Totals of S4?FA divers' fish catch data compared across all buyers. Fuyer codes; A I Fandaramulla buyer, F I Bapparathota buyer, 4-! I *olhena buyers, E-< I Thalaramba buyers. (ata arefor the +883N)8 season. All earnings given in LB @?SO) I ))LB based on +8)8 ?SO ; LB echange rates.............................. +5
Table 2.)) eans and standard deviations of S4?FA divers' fish catch datacompared across all buyers. Fuyer codes; A I Fandaramulla buyer,F I Bapparathota buyer, 4-! I *olhena buyers, E-< I Thalaramba
buyers (ata are for the +883N)8 season. All earnings given inLB @?SO) I )) LB based on +8)8 ?SO ; LB echangerates................................................................................................... +2
Table 2.)+. arine ornamental fish and invertebrates volumes eported permonth by eight eport companies in Sri Lanka calculated from data
provided by eport companies. (ata for the +883 = +8)8 season.!igures in grey shading are the numbers provided by companiesand those in hite are calculated or estimated from the shaded
figures. Flank cells are values that cannot be calculated from thedata provided. Dalues given are minimums, ith maimum valuesin brackets. The minimum values are used to calculate all othervalues.................................................................................................. +0
Table 2.). Sri Lankan official eport statistics for aquarium fish @freshaterand marine fish. Source; 7port (evelopment Foard, @+8)8.......... +00
Table 2.)0. arine ornamental fish and invertebrates caught and recorded infour si%e categories in buyers' logbooks. All other species caughtand recorded ere not given a si%e category in logbooks.................. +06
Table 6.). Abundance figures presented by CAA official at the meetinghighlighting the reduction in some of the highly targeted fishspecies for the ornamental trade beteen their surveys conducted in)336N33 and +883............................................................................... +22
Table 6.+. List of ministries and government departments involved in coralreef management in Sri Lanka, adapted from a$asuriya et al.,@)33/.................................................................................................. +62
Table 3.). (ivers' likes and dislikes of their $ob as ornamental fishers,includes S4?FA divers and snorkellers from all sites. ultipleresponses ere alloed...................................................................... ))
Table 3.+. 4osts to build and maintain one 38 cm 0/ cm 8 cm aquarium per month in southern Sri Lanka........................................................ +)
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List of Acronyms
A&E Alternative &ncome Eeneration
AC1DA Analysis of Dariance
FA Fasins of Attraction
F4( Fuoyancy 4ontrol (evice
F( Fandaramulla
F1FL7 Fay of Fengal Large arine 7cosystem *ro$ect
F*? Fiodiversity *rotection ?nit
44( 4oast 4onservation (epartment
47A 4entral 7nvironmental Authority
47CAA 4apacity 7nhancement of CAA pro$ect
4.&. 4onfidence &ntervals4&(A 4anadian &nternational (evelopment Agency
4&T7S 4onvention on &nternational Trade in 7ndangered Species
4T 4ustomary arine Tenure
41 4orallivore
41TS 4ron-1f-Thorns Starfish
4*?7 4atch *er ?nit 7ffort
4T! 4oral eef Task !orce
(4 (ead 4oral(!A (epartment of !isheries and Aquatic esources
(94 (epartment of 9ildlife and 4onservation
7i 7lectivity indice
7F! 7cosystem-Fased !isheries anagement
7(F 7port (evelopment Foard
7CS1 7l Cio Southern 1scillation
7S4 7conomic and Social esearch 4ouncil
7? 7uropean ?nion
!A1 !ood and Agriculture 1rganisation
!1F !ree-1n-Foard value
EATT Eeneral Agreement on Trade and Tariffs
EFF1 Elass Fottom Foat 1perator
E(* Eross (omestic *roduct
E77 Eeneralised 7stimating 7quation
E&S Eeographical &nformation Systems
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EL Eeneralised Linear odel
EL Eeneralised Linear ied odel
E*S Elobal *ositioning System
ES* Eeneralised Scheme of *references
#F #erbivore#B #ikkadua
#SA #ikkadua Special Area anagement *lan
&4 &ntegrated 4oastal anagement
&!A( &nternational !und for Agricultural (evelopment
&CN&CD &nvertivore
&*44 &nternational *anel on 4limate 4hange
&T &ndividual Transferable uota
&?4C &nternational ?nion for the 4onservation of Cature
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1! 1rnamental !ishery
1 1mnivore
*A(& *rofessional Association of (iving &nstructors
*& *iscivore
*L *lanktivore*1 *olhena
uantile-quantile
ubble
S Sand
SA Special Area anagement *lan
S4 Structural 4ompleity
S4?FA Self-4ontained ?nderater Freathing Apparatus
S4( Substrate 4omposition (iversityS( Standard (eviation
S7 Standard 7rror
S7S Social-7cological System
SS& Semi-Structured &ntervie
SST Sea Surface Temperature
T44 Transforming 4oral eef 4onservation
To4 Tragedy of the 4ommons
TL Thalaramba
T4 Tropical arine 4entre
?B ?nited Bingdom
?C4TA( ?nited Cations 4onference on Trade and (evelopment
?C7* ?nited Cations 7nvironment *rogramme
?D4 ?nderater Disual 4ensus
?9 ?naatuna
D#T Dertical #eight @substrate9T1 9orld Trade 1rganisation
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Declaration
The ork contained in this thesis has not been submitted elsehere for any other
degree or qualification and unless otherise referenced is the author"s on ork.
The copyright of this thesis rests ith the author. Co quotation from it should be
published ithout the author's prior ritten consent and information derived from it
should be acknoledged.
James Alexander Edward Howard
September 2012
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Acknoledgements
y research as funded by a $oint 7conomic and Social esearch 4ouncil @7S4 and
Catural 7nvironment esearch 4ouncil @C74 studentship and & am grateful to them
for providing me ith the necessary funds to complete my research. Cet, & ould like
to thank my supervisors, (r Sandra Fell and (r artyn Lucas for their vision, support
and guidance throughout the duration of this study. Sandra initiated and developed my
skills as an environmental anthropologist and artyn embraced a ne direction of
research sub$ect for him and both ere alays approachable, patient and understanding.
y heartfelt thanks also go out to (r. Terney *radeep Bumara, of the ?niversity of
uhuna, ho as my mentor in Sri Lanka, ithout hose help and guidance this
pro$ect ould not have materialised. #e provided much enthusiasm and epertise hen
& conducted my fieldork in Sri Lanka and am sure smoothed out the essential
bureaucracy as ell as my cultural fau pas efficiently and invisibly behind the scenes.
9ithin the ?niversity of uhuna, & ould like to thank all the staff, postgraduates and
undergraduates ho & as fortunate enough to meet and ho elcomed me so armly
into the The !aculty of !isheries and arine Sciences > Technology. & look back fondly
on the tea breaks, lunches and chats e shared as & found my feet in a ne country.
1utside of academia and in Sri Lanka, & have a great many people to thank for their
contributions, help, friendships and armth during my several visits. As the voice piece
of this thesis, & ould like to thank all the divers, fishers and ornamental fish buyers and
the ider village communities of all the villages & orked in, ho remain anonymous to
protect their identities but ho participated in this study, elcomed me, hosted me and
shared their lives ith me, even if & as constantly noting things don in my
notebooks. & am indebted to them in achieving this piece of ork. The same is true ofthose in the hospitality and tourist trades in #ikkadua ho never seemed to mind my
questioning and repeat visits. &n #ikkadua, & thank Asanka Eunaardena of the
(epartment of 9ildlife 4onservation in Sri Lanka, ho spoke frankly and at length
ith me about the marine protected area at #ikkadua. A big thank you to Somey at
4oral Sands (ive School, ho alloed me to store a kayak and kit at his dive shop
during my surveys. &n Ealle, a thank you to r (aluatta of the 7(F ho made time
to speak ith me and provide me ith ornamental trade eport statistics.
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&n and around 4olombo and Cegombo, & ish to thank all the eport company officials
ho met ith me and ho provided me ith a ealth of information on their businesses
and the ornamental fish market chain. & ould also like to thank Ar$an a$asuriya of
CAA, ho provided some great insight and knoledge about the ornamental fish
trade and coral reefs generally in Sri Lanka. & am etremely grateful to SamanthaEunasekara for making time for a long, and informative intervie about 4ustoms role
in the ornamental fish trade. 1ther people there & ould like to thank there are Cishan
*erera, Balyani #eapathirana, *rasanna 9eerakoddy, Shamen Didanage and Eamini
#evage. A big thank you to achel (ouglas-
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afield, (avid 4ooper. &n academia, & ould like to thank Alisdair 7dards for some
clarification on data issues, and &sabel 4otW for methodological help, as ell as the
interest and friendliness of postgraduates and other staff at Cecastle ?niversity, during
conferences, seminars and time at the pub.
At (urham ?niversity, & ould like to thank Adetayo Basim, obi Fagchi and Shane
ichards for help and advice ith the statistical analyses. achel 4arr for patient help
ith Arcap and E&S skills and Sean Tiss, Fob Fater, Fob Layton and att 4andea
as my Fiological Sciences and Anthropology thesis committee pairs respectively. !or
comments and advice on chapters & ould like to thank Triinu ets. 1n a more
informal note, & ould like to thank all the many friends and fello students ho have
kept me going through the *h( but & have to mention a fe to keep the peace; att#ayard, Eabriel Altay, 4arla #andley, !iona Fracken, #oard Eray, (an Larence,
Andy Flair, 7milie !airet, oss 4ulloch, Steve 7mery, anny 4hao as ell as everyone
in Lab )5 past and present, and the many other Anthropology and 7cology students and
staff ho have spent time chatting ith me or listening to my storiesV
A special mention is needed for my girlfriend, egan, hom & met in the early days at
(urham and ho has stuck ith me through the good and tough times of our respective
*h(s. Thanks for putting up ith me and making this orkJ your positivity, giggles
and smile are the perfect antidote to *h( blues, and my memories of this time ill be
far rosier thanks to your presence.
!inally, & ish to thank my family; um for encouraging me to do this, keeping me
positive and for proof-reading the thesis, *a for never talking about my ork and being
able to make me laugh so easily and both of you for coming to visit in Sri Lanka and
$ust alays being there and helping in every ay possible. Tash for alays making time
to chat and provide sisterly support, despite our bad timing at being in the same regions
of the orld simultaneously. & ish Eran could be here to see me finish hat she sa
me start but & am grateful for her never-ending support and encouragement of my
choices in life and *op for being solid and updating me on all sporting, eather and
local nes in Corfolk and reminding me to Gkeep my nose to the grind-stoneH.
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Dedication
,n lo(ing memor$
of
%er$l Jane Lake$
+)) / )*+)0
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Chapter !
Introduction
!"! #refacey interest in tropical coral reefs goes back to hen & as groing up in several
developing countries in Africa. & became increasingly aare of the struggle beteen the
local villagers" need to utilise their environment for a livelihood and the conservation of
the local habitat. Through marine studies at 4ape Ton for my asters and the
acquisition of diving qualifications my interest shifted to marine environments here
ornamental fish ere under threat. y interest as still firmly located in hat as
actually happening on the reefs and ho much ere the local fishers and villagerscontributing to their current status and hat more could be done toards sustainability.
Thus on securing the opportunity for research in Sri Lanka, through (urham ?niversity,
& had the opportunity to eplore this issue. Therefore, the aim of my thesis is to
discover ho sustainable the marine ornamental fishery in southern Sri Lanka is, from
the perspective of the local fishers and divers of this area. &f there are signs that it is not
sustainable, as the literature maintained, then to ask hat alternative procedures and
management approaches that perhaps involve these divers could be adopted to move the
fishery into a path of greater sustainability both in terms of the coral reefs and the local
divers" livelihoods. This overarching aim is researched through seven key ob$ectives,
hich reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the research @Section ).0.
This chapter has four sectionsJ an overvie of the main themes, the rationale and unique
focus, the ob$ectives and a chapter summary of the study. !irst it provides an overvie
of the main themes that permeate the entire thesis. They embrace the compleity and
dynamism of social and ecological systems and the interdisciplinarity of approaches,
epistemologies and methods to uncover the problematic relationships beteen humans
and their environment. The rationale and unique focus of the thesis precedes the
delineation of the study's seven ob$ectives developed to eplore the overall research
question from the divers" perspective. !inally, a summary of each chapter is provided in
relation to each of the seven specific ob$ectives to guide the reader along the path of
discovery to the findings, recommendations and concluding remarks.
)
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!"$ %a&or themes of the thesis
The global failure of policies aimed at preserving biodiversity, halting the effects of
climate change, reducing poverty and ensuring social $ustice, particularly in poor
nations, is no idely accepted @Ludig, +88)J ehta, +882J 7hrlich > *ringle, +886.
4onserving marine resources and the ecosystem services associated ith the biomes
involved therefore remains a challenge. Although the reasons for this failure differ
depending on the narratives and the groups involved, one uniting factor is the need for a
change in direction and practices. esearch in many fields from biology, environmental
sciences, economics, sociology, anthropology and development is finding conclusive
proof that humans and nature co-eist in comple and dynamic systems @Levin, )333.
This seemingly obvious reality has been bypassed, at the policy level for decades, in
favour of simpler outlooks and solutions to human natural resource requirements.
4omple systems ere stripped don and their main components identified in order to
attempt to control the flues of these systems. 4oupled to this as the belief of many
academics and practitioners that these systems remain predominantly in equilibrium
andNor optimal states @Uimmerer, +888J Buhn et al., +883J Scoones, )333. Fy
impeding ecessive outside stressors or by manipulating the core elements of these
systems it as hoped that these GequilibriumH positions could be maintained through
management @aarleveld > (abgbWgnon, )333 and technology @Ludig, +88). 9ith
hindsight there is realisation that this model has failed and studies sho that in avoidingthe compleity and unpredictability of these systems, disastrous consequences can result
for natural and human capital @Ludig et al., )33.
There is a pressing need to shift from these generalised, simple models of systems in
states of equilibrium and move toards the groing acceptance of vieing natural
systems as comple and dynamic and thus in need of appropriately aligned management
methods @#ilborn > Eunderson, )335J Beeley > Scoones, +88J Ludig et al., )33.The transition to this approach is gathering pace as alternative strategies are sought to
address resource management issues to suit the environmental and social changes that
appear to be accelerating. !urthermore, researchers and practitioners across a ide
scope of disciplines are simultaneously embracing the comple, adaptive systems
approach, including ecologists and environmental anthropologists. &ts core frameork
and methods can be applied to etremely disparate issues; from the unpredictability and
compleity of economic markets to the non-linear relationships beteen gene structure
and function @Leach et al., +8)8. & therefore chose to apply this approach to the marine
+
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ornamental trade in Sri Lanka in an attempt to portray its current state and uncover the
potential for sustainability of this fishery in relation to the social and economic
institutions surrounding it. y intention is to eplore, from the integrated approach of
an environmental anthropologist and a marine ecologist, the multiple and interconnected
influences on this fisheryJ hence managing compleity is a ma$or theme of this thesis.
4ompleity as eplored via systems ecology theory several decades ago @#olling,
)32, yet it gained little currency at the time and as largely ignored by policy-makers.
#oever, compleity theories gained popularity over time and my approach has dran
on established scientific theory centred on non-linear stability to address problems of
development, poverty and sustainability @9alker et al., +880. The comple, dynamic
version of natural systems is etremely relevant to social-ecological systems @discussed
in 4hapter +.).+ in the marine contet. #umans have utilised and eploited theoceans for millennia and anthropogenic impacts are eperienced in even the most
isolated of marine areas. &n the field of marine ecology and conservation there is
groing appreciation of the need to embrace compleity in such systems, hich is also
needed ithin coral reef ecological studies, that have focused mainly on documenting
the degradation of the orld"s coral reefs but not on researching the processes causing
such decline and degradation @#ughes et al., +8)8. Some coral reef systems have
degraded and shifted in state hereas others have not, hich has led many to believecoral reefs have properties that allo for multiple stable states to eist @Bnolton,
)33+. #oever, understanding ho these states alternate remains unclear, although
much evidence indicates these shifts in state are linked ith reductions in ecosystem
resilience @see 4hapter +.).+.) as a result of human actions @!olke et al., +880.
!urthermore, a broader scope of research into such systems, aay from vieing
ecological and biological elements in isolation and including social, economic and
cultural drivers, is long overdue. &n ecological eperiments, humans are usuallyecluded from the equation, cited as being too GcompleH, their effects too ide ranging
or not part of the natural ecosystem @Alberti et al., +88. #oever, the direct effects of
fishing on natural populations has meant that some fisheries research incorporates
humans into its analysis. !or eample, some marine ecologists include humans as a
trophic level in food chain studies to understand the ecological role of humans in coastal
communities and thus assess their impact in relation to current problems of alternate
stable states and trophic cascades @see 4hapter +.5.+ and +.6 in marine ecosystems
@*innegar et al., +888. Ereater interdisciplinarity is needed in fisheries studies ith a
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groing need to dra on people"s cultural capital and include humans as Gecological
actorsH to derive improved and more adaptive management strategies @4astilla, )336;
+6+. &nclusion of humans ithin study systems is standard practice for environmental
anthropologists and so interdisciplinary research beteen anthropologists and ecologists
is valuable in order to re-evaluate ho anthropology can support ecologists to address
environmental degradation.
This integration of to disciplines in order to understand to a greater degree comple,
natural systems is the second ma$or theme of this thesis. ost natural systems need to
be vieed as social-ecological systems @Ferkes > !olke, +88+ since they are not only
inherently connected ith human actions but also therefore comple, dynamic, unstable
ith non-linear properties operating at various scales in time and space. The
compleity of these systems is eamined in 4hapter + together ith the conceptualframeork for utilising this approach. &n addition to the shift in understanding natural
systems, is a coincidental burgeoning of interdisciplinary research @hoten, +88/. The
academic community is attempting to bridge disciplinary divides in order to solve
comple, chronic problems. !or over 8 years, environmental anthropologists and
some biologists have had a remit to ork alongside local communities rather than
distance themselves from them. And although many authors during the )338s began to
call for greater interdisciplinarity in conservation biology ork, hether marine orterrestrial @Arro et al., )33/J effe > Diederman, )33/, it is only recently that the
mainstream of marine conservation is orking to incorporate social sciences alongside
ecological ork. !rom a fe individuals navigating the divide beteen disciplines,
there is no a multitude of research seeking G...to understand the source and role of
change in systems...H and G...gradual change and episodic change, local and global
changesH @#olling et al., +88+;)). This interdisciplinary approach covers a ide range
of global biomes, societies and contets and spans research on tropical forests andAma%onian indigenous peoples @*osey et al., )360, Sahel drylands and pastoralists
@Send%imir et al., +8)), the Arctic and native Americans @Brupnik et al., +8)8 and
marine conservation ith close proimity to my on area of research via tropical coral
reefs and *acific island communities @4inner et al., +883a.
&nterdisciplinary studies often involve the participation of researchers from several
different disciplines ith idely divergent orld-vies, opinions and methods hich
cannot alays be readily accommodated, making this approach difficult to put into
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practice. any researchers have spent their academic career ith only one theoretical
perspective and find it difficult to adapt to other ays of thinking or orking
collaboratively ith researchers from alternative fields. &n this pro$ect, by orking
across to disciplines, & have endeavoured to avoid the potential problems associated
ith collaborating among diverse disciplines by learning the skills of both an
environmental anthropologist and enhancing my skills as an ecologist. y desire to
ork in this ay, prevented me from being closed-minded to the ne discipline. &
consider the nature of my pro$ect to be a clear eample of the necessity to conduct some
broad scale research at a regional scale, hile focusing on individual fishers and local
groups or fish species to provide the necessary detail. 7riksen @+88) provides a
metaphor for these contrasting strategies of macro-ecologists and anthropologists hen
he compares the broad, often global scale ork of evolutionary biologists and macro-
ecologists to that of circling the earth taking photographs from a helicopter, hereas thesocial anthropologist is in a specific location eamining every grain of sand. &n this
thesis & have sought a middle ground, hereby & am able to present results concerning
one of the three ornamental fish collecting regions in Sri Lanka hile retaining an
appreciation of the concerns and priorities of different local people, that is, not $ust the
divers, but all those along the market chain.
&n tandem ith this idea of bridging disciplines is the implication of bridging methodsand forms of data, and being aare and inclusive of different knoledge forms. Fy
doing this, & intend to sho the complementarity of quantitative and qualitative data as
ell as diverse knoledge systems. 9ith varying forms of knoledge and data, hich
are often complementary or congruent, it is possible to obtain more robust results. The
results of this study ehibit this standpoint and furthermore, illustrate ho such an
approach opens these results to a ider audience than a single discipline study.
!"' (ationale and unique focus of the thesis
This thesis focuses on the marine ornamental fishery and trade based around coral reefs
in southern Sri Lanka. 7arlier studies on the topic eposed the unsustainable nature of
the industry but did not bring about any noticeable change, ith each subsequent study
reaffirming the results of previous studies and an underlying negative image of
ornamental fish collectors @9ood, )36/, )335, +88)aJ *yle, )33J 7karatne, +888J
9i$esekara > Kakupitiyage, +88). All these studies of the Sri Lankan ornamental
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fishery ere apolitical ecological studies conducted from a top-don, poer-heavy
approach, hich focused on presenting the perceived unsustainability in terms of
volumes of fish eported and their value, the indirect effects of ornamental fish
collection, such as trophic cascades and direct habitat damage alongside the multiple
stressors affecting and contributing to the steady deterioration of coral reefs in Sri
Lanka. Although these problems cannot be denied, these studies did not empirically
measure any of the stated effects of the ornamental trade on reef ecology or investigate
socio-cultural factors behind participant behaviours and therefore the full compleity of
the situation has remained unknon. !urthermore, it means that any recommended
actions for sustainable fishery management ould be flaed as they ere not situated
ithin this ider contet.
This top-don approach used by researchers in development, environmental studies andconservation in the past has hoever, been moving toards the more idely used
bottom-up approach no promoted in these same disciplines @Sillitoe, )336. This is
the first study on the ornamental fishery in Sri Lanka conducted from a bottom-up
perspective, that is, reporting the situation predominantly from the vie of the divers
and at the level of their everyday lives, rather than the often constrained vie provided
by government officials or CE1s as offered in prior studies on the trade @9ood, )36/,
)335, +88)aJ *yle, )33J 7karatne, +888J 9i$esekara > Kakupitiyage, +88).
!irst, since the last study as over )8 years ago, an up-to-date assessment of the
ornamental trade in Sri Lanka as requiredJ hoever, & decided to take a more holistic
approach in an attempt to disentangle the current status of the ornamental fishery and
identify reasons for the current impasse beteen sustaining the fishery as a form of
livelihood for divers in these villages hilst also maintaining the health of the local
reefs and their fish populations.
The application of an interdisciplinary study to this fishery in Sri Lanka is unique. This
is beneficial as many scientific researchers remain strongly edded to quantitative
GhardH science results, hich are produced in this thesis and can provide such an
audience ith a satisfactory assessment. Additionally, ethnographic data concerning
social, economic and cultural influences also allo for a richer picture of the chronic
problems affecting this fishery to emerge from hich more $ustifiable recommendations
can be made to improve the long-term sustainability of the fishery. &t is hoped that the
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thesis ill also convince some readers of the benefits of mied method and
interdisciplinary approaches and their applicability to comple resource management
issues.
This thesis also aims to provide additional evidence of the utility of addressing
compleity and dynamism in social-ecological systems. 9hy this is such a pressing
issue is conveyed through the observations of environmental degradation and social
deprivation, hich continually threaten the livelihoods of many of the orld's poor =
people like the divers in my study = ho are often forgotten and voiceless at the distant
reach of global trade, capitalism and science.
!") *b&ecti+es of the studyThere are seven main ob$ectives to this study, hich ere devised after revieing all
the research published on the ornamental fishery in Sri Lanka and several other
countries. These ob$ectives ere also developed ith the underlying themes of
interdisciplinarity and compleity in mind. Therefore, integration of the disciplines
ould be required to sufficiently address these ob$ectives and to uncover the compleity
of the ider social-ecological system surrounding the fishery, something hich has not
been done previously. The ob$ectives encompass an investigation of drivers on multiple
temporal and spatial scales, in keeping ith the notion of social ecological systems'
panarchy @4hapter +.).+, to present a more vivid picture of the current situation and to
delve deeper into the reasons hy the fishery has developed along its current tra$ectory.
The first five ob$ectives are employed to anser the first part of the overall aim; ho
sustainable is the ornamental fishery: 1b$ectives 5 and 2 provide the results to
determine management routes toard sustainability. The study ob$ectives are;
) To investigate, ithin historical contets, ho the social and cultural aspects that
support contemporary patterns of reef fish capture for the aquarium trade at
selected fishing villages in southern Sri Lanka can be incorporated into fishery
management for sustainable livelihoods in the future.
+ To assess the levels of current ornamental fish catches and catch per unit effort
@4*?7 and record fishing behaviours across specific sites to determine the
potential effects of local fishing practices on aspects of the ider reef ecology.
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To derive the abundance of nearshore reef fish populations targeted by the
ornamental fish capture market in southern Sri Lanka and compare this ith
local divers' knoledge and perceptions of their local marine resources to
address ays to combine collective knoledge for the common good.
0 To assess the levels of resilience in all its forms @natural, social, community,
economic in the fishing villages and their nearshore aters to evaluate ho
social and ecological systems, related to the ornamental fishery in Sri Lanka
reorganise around change and ho they manage for resilience.
/ To analyse the links beteen the current ecological conditions and the social
interactions, beteen and among, the different actors for the capture,
transportation, holding and sale of fish across the current market chain and thusevaluate the strengths and eaknesses of the system.
5 To evaluate the success of current and past governance strategies applied to the
marine ornamental fishery and hence predict future trends in ecological change
and vulnerability of human coastal communities in relation to the reef health.
2 To assess the potential for alternative livelihoods through mariculture ofeploited species of ornamental value as ell as the social and economic
acceptability of cultivation or other alternative livelihood options to those
practising ild capture to determine their inclusion as sustainable livelihoods
ithin fishery management in the future.
These ob$ectives are addressed in different chapters ithin the thesis, ith some
spanning several chapters and others contained ithin a single chapter. Table ).)indicates hich ob$ective is predominantly addressed in hich chapter and hich
methods and data are used and presented to investigate these ob$ectives.
This study predominantly focuses on ornamental fish collection carried out by
snorkellers rather than S4?FA divers. This as due to to main reasons; firstly, a
greater number of divers in Sri Lanka snorkel to catch ornamental fish, therefore, the
study aimed to elucidate patterns concerning the ma$ority of actors in the fishery,
hoever, S4?FA divers' influence on the fishery and their patterns of behaviour are
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included. Secondly, (urham ?niversity health and safety guidelines prevented the
study involving S4?FA diving. (espite this, & collected data from ornamental S4?FA
divers, by accompanying them on boats as