Paper short abstract:

This paper draws from ethnographic research among Dominican fishermen to argue that marine conservation in the Caribbean is a new form of structural adjustment program. I illustrate how regional programs prioritize resource profitability and financial restructuring through ocean health incentives.

Paper long abstract:

Throughout the Caribbean, stark declines in fish populations and the health of nearshore coral reefs have drawn the attention of large conservation organizations. In 2008, the Nature Conservancy and global partners launched the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) in response to ecological declines of the region’s maritime territories. This initiative incentivized Caribbean island nations to put 20% of their marine territory under protection by 2020, establishing a $47 million regional endowment that would channel funds into National Conservation Trust Funds for each nation. The Dominican Republic successfully allocated 20% of its marine territory to legal protection several years prior to the 2020 goal. What do these protections actually look like at sea-level (and below), and how can ethnographic accounts from those immersed in conservation seascapes reveal alternative narratives or motives of large-scale marine protections? This presentation explores the CCI in the context of the Dominican Republic, focusing on the experiences of small-scale fishermen in these new legally protected marine territories. I argue that marine conservation in the Caribbean is a new form of structural adjustment program, one that prioritizes resource profitability and the restructuring of finances through the language and imagery of ocean health. As those who navigate ocean spaces and new legal regimes of marine protection argue, conservation attempts have had far greater impacts on maritime economic flows than they have on the health of ocean ecologies they claim to protect.