Coastal communities

Coastal communities have multiple sources of income but there are often serious threats to food security.

They live at the edge of the "bountiful sea"
but they are generally poor, crowded and
marginalized.

However, they are resourceful when resources are degraded;
they may lack monetary resources but they survive.

Figure

Fishers have traditionally been migratory, as families or as individuals. Recently, the increased population pressures in many countries have pushed inland people to the coast in the hopes of maintaining a livelihood based on marine resources which are often considered common property. Some of these migrants, either as families or individually, move to cities or foreign countries in search of work. All of these migrants contribute to change in local populations, mixing ethnic groups, cultures and language. Whether from inland or from other coastal areas, these migrants are people without previous ties to the locality, which means less local ecological knowledge but they add richness to the communities with different cultures.