Luxury seafood consumption in China and the intensification of coastal livelihoods in Southeast Asia: The live reef fish for food trade in Balabac, Philippines

Fabinyi, Michael, Pido, Michael, Harani, Babylyn, Caceres, Jennelyn, Uyami-Bitara, Arselene, De las Alas, Aileen, Buenconsejo, Jose, and Ponce de Leon, Eva Marie (2012) Luxury seafood consumption in China and the intensification of coastal livelihoods in Southeast Asia: The live reef fish for food trade in Balabac, Philippines. Asia-Pacific Viewpoint, 53 (2). pp. 118-132.

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Abstract

An important contemporary driver of livelihood change in coastal Southeast Asia is the growing demand for luxury seafood in China. Based on fieldwork in the municipality of Balabac in Palawan province, western Philippines, this paper takes stock of this trend, and investigates the implications of the relationship between Chinese patterns of luxury seafood consumption and the intensification of coastal livelihoods in Southeast Asia. The paper focuses mostly on the trade in live reef fish, with reference also to sea cucumber and shark fin. In the light of recent discussions of social and environmental change in Southeast Asia, the paper addresses how the intensification of coastal livelihoods has manifested in important trends, including an increasing reliance on high-value commodity fisheries such as the trade in luxury seafood. Important consequences of this intensification of coastal livelihoods include environmental degradation, and social change due to the development of broader trading networks. The paper argues that the live reef fish for food trade is an important contemporary livelihood that highlights the ways in which Chinese consumption is having diverse social and environmental consequences for source countries in Southeast Asia.

Item ID: 23173
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1360-7456
Keywords: Balabac, China, coastal livelihoods, live reef fish trade, Palawan, Philippines
Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2012 01:10
FoR Codes: 16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1601 Anthropology > 160101 Anthropology of Development @ 50%
05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050209 Natural Resource Management @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9607 Environmental Policy, Legislation and Standards > 960701 Coastal and Marine Management Policy @ 50%
97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society @ 50%
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