optimal foragers or political actors? ecological analyses of a New Jersey fishery

Abstract

Recent trends in ecological anthropology are described and applied in an analysis of a New Jersey fishery. The difficulty of identifying environmental problems becomes apparent when trying to describe the temporal variability, pollution, restrictions on access, and depletion that characterize the marine environment of “Shoal Harbor,” a diversified community of bay men and inshore fishermen not far from New York City. A set of hypotheses derived from optimization theories in evolutionary ecology proves helpful in suggesting the ecological rationale for certain aspects of the Shoal Harbor fishery; but practical, methodological, and theoretical qualifications limit its usefulness. Another ecological approach, the “economics of flexibility,” is used to open the analysis to the political dimensions of one aspect of Shoal Harbor behavior—illegal fishing. A concluding discussion of the problem of overfishing indicates the importance of balancing ecological approaches with just consideration of social, cultural, and political reality. [ecological anthropology, evolutionary theory, anthropological theory, maritime communities, foraging strategies]