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The picture on the left was taken when Liz was working with WWF in PNG, on a leatherback turtle program, for the
Bismarck Solomon Seas Ecoregion, which is now part of the coral triangle program. The other was taken when she was working with fishermen in New Brunswick (Saint John Harbor area) collecting "ghost traps".
Liz is an international student from Fiji who previously completed her Master of Marine Management at Dalhousie University, Halifax. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary program. The focus of her research is in learning more about how small scale fishers/fishermen cope with past and current changes in their fishery (resilience) and how future changes are envisioned. She hopes that her research can help small-scale coastal communities mitigate or prepare for future risks or opportunities within their fisheries. Her field work is being conducted in two locations, the South Western Cape Area of South Africa and South West New Brunswick, Canada and is being supported by the Robin Rigby Trust.
Liz¡¯s community partners are the Fundy North Fisherman¡¯s Association in St. Andrews, New Brunswick; and the Masifundise Development Trust and the Environmental Evaluation Unit at the University of Cape Town. So far, Liz has completed her field work interviews, and is now focusing on analyzing her data and writing her thesis. Preliminary results reflect some of the major changes in the type of fishery, for example the elevation of the lobster fishery, the expansion of the aquaculture industry (in SWNB) and impacts from marine legislations such as the Marine Living Resources Act (1998) in South Africa. Key issues and potential escalating risks include marine policies and large corporations that displace small scale fishers from their traditional fishing areas, chemical impacts on habitats from aquaculture, and the uncertainty of climate change on different fisheries.
In South Africa, Liz was hosted by Mr. Nico Waldeck, Mr. Hahn Goliath, Mr. Peter Owies, the Lambertsbaai and Doringbaai communities, Ms. Jackie Sunde, and Dr. Merle Sowman, and in SWNB, the Young Family, Ms. Donna Curtis, and Dr. Melanie Wiber. Liz is very grateful for their very warm hospitality, guidance and support for her research.