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Coastal Management, 31:389–408, 2003
Copyright  Taylor & Francis Inc.
ISSN: 0892-0753 print / 1521-0421 online
DOI: 10.1080/08920750390232965

Small-Scale Sicilian Fisheries:
Opinions of Artisanal Fishers and
Sociocultural Effects in Two MPA Case Studies

AMBER H. HIMES

Duke University Marine Lab
Beaufort, North Carolina, USA
and
Istituto di ricerca sulle Risorse Marine e l’Ambiente (IRMA)
Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy

Marine resource management and related stakeholder conflicts have been clearly
defined in recent decades as pressing issues worldwide. This article provides a com-
parative study of the management regimes of the Gulf of Castellammare Fishery
Reserve and the Egadi Islands Marine Reserve in Sicily, Italy. What managers in
these two reserves have neglected to include in management is a social science
evaluation scheme to ensure the development of more effective overall management.
This is a significant problem in both Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean, where
few sociocultural and economic studies have been conducted. Using data collected
with standard anthropological field methods, analysis was conducted on how artisanal
fishers are impacted by reserves, the extent of their knowledge regarding regula-
tions, their opinions on management, and demographics. The results indicate that
while fishers in the two case studies are all aware of the marine reserves where they
fish, most fishers are not well informed of the associated regulations. Fishers feel
alienated from the management process, and would feel more comfortable with re-
serve managers and regulations if they were involved in management. The article
concludes by showing how such data could help to develop more useful and practi-
cal management practices in both these and other MPAs with similar problems.

Keywords Italy, marine protected areas, Mediterranean, socioeconomic and cul-
tural impact

Received 11 January 2003; accepted 7 May 2003.
This research would not have been possible without the support of the Istituto di ricerca
sulle Risorse Marine e L’Ambiente, Dr. Fabio Badalamenti, Dr. Carlo Pipitone, Dr. Giovanni
D’Anna, Marilena Coppola, and Giuseppe Di Stefano in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and the
Environmental Internship Fund at Duke University. In addition, I would like to acknowledge Dr.
Mike Orbach, Dr. Victoria Edwards, Dr. David Whitmarsh, and Dr. Roger Corey for their input
in the development of this manuscript.
Address correspondence to Amber H. Himes, CEMARE, University of Portsmouth, Depart-
ment of Economics, Milton Campus, Locksway Road, Portsmouth, PO5 8JF, United Kingdom.
E-mail: amber.himes@port.ac.uk

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