Page 4 - HimesAH(2007)

Methodology

2003 Survey
A survey was conducted among small­scale artisanal fishers in the three islands of the EIMR.
All data collection took place between May 5t h and 12t h, 2003. Interviews were conducted by
the author in conjunction with an initial introduction of the complete research project to the
fishers. Because of the small numbers of fishers, a census of registered fishers was attempted
on an opportunistic basis.

Vessel registration information was obtained from the port authority of Trapani,
which officially registers all vessels in the Islands (refer to table 1 for number of vessels and
fishers on each island). 32 of 39 fishing boat captains were interviewed, with one refusal
(97% response rate). This included 20 of the 24 active fishing vessels in Favignana, 2 of 3
vessels in Levanzo and 10 of 12 vessels in Marettimo. One fisher fro m Favignana refused to
answer the questionnaire, the other two and two from Marettimo were never located. All
fishers were approached at their vessels either in the early morning after they had returned
from collecting their nets or in the afternoon while they were doing repairs to their nets.
Almost all fishers were very interested in answering the questions and understanding the
content of the research project. Previously, contact was made with key informants that then
served to introduce the interviewer to the other fishers and help explain the purpose of the
research project. This had a significant impact on the fisher’s decision to respond.

Questionnaires were completed in face­to­face interviews, where a statement of
consent was read before the survey and the questions were asked and recorded on a paper
version of the survey. The majority of the questions were closed­ended, with a few open­
ended questions scattered throughout. Regarding the local fishery, respondents were queried
regarding education, age, residence time, additional income sources, where they fish, what
type and how much gear they use, years they have been fishing, crew, fish caught, with what
gear and how much they are sold for, bycatch, and where they sell their catch. Regarding the
MPA, respondents were questioned regarding their knowledge of the MPA, whether they feel it
is beneficial to them and the community, how their fishing activity has changed, and whether
they have benefited from tourism.

2004 Survey
The main objective of this phase of the research was to develop an initial set of stakeholder
indicators of success for the EIMR. A questionnaire was used to elicit a range of fisher
definitions of success, how success can be achieved, an index regarding the knowledge of the
EIMR, and how evaluations of MPAs should be conducted. Structured questionnaires were
presented in face­to­face interviews to a random sample o f 54 fishers with 4 refusals (92.6%
response rate). In order to complement the demographic information collected in the 2003
survey, general demographic information was also collected for each respondent, including
the category of respondent, sex, age, education, occupation and activities that the respondent
undertakes in the MPA. All data collection took place between 17 January and 31 March
2004.

To determine performance indicators relative to the fishing sector the present survey
was aimed at all individual fishermen as the sample population. The stakeholder group
‘fishers’ was defined as anyone working on a fishing vessel that is based in the Egadi Islands.
Information on the number of crew aboard each vessel was taken from the 2003 survey. The
data showed a count of 83 fishers that work on vessels in the Egadi Islands. A census of
registered fishers was attempted on an opportunistic basis. Questionnaires were presented to
fishers either on board the vessel that they work on or at the commercial fishing port at each