A Study On The Factors Influencing The Conversion Of Displaced Fishermen

In order to curb the continuous expansion of marine fishing intensity and repair the damaged marine ecosystem,the fisheries system in the East China Sea,Yellow Sea and Beibu Gulf has undergone profound changes with the signing and entry into force of fisheries agreements between China,Japan,China,Korea and China-Vietnam.Traditional fishing methods have become unsustainable and a large number of fishing vessels have been forced to leave their traditional fishing grounds,resulting in a large number of displaced fishermen.The retreat to the sea has led to the shrinking of the fishing villages’ pillar industries and reduced employment and income effects.Realising the conversion of retreating fishing villages to production and landing fishermen to employment is not only of positive significance to the overall economic transformation of fishing villages and the improvement of fishermen’s economic income and quality of life,but also plays an important role in sustainable development and social stability.The question of how to strengthen the security of resettlement of fishermen who have retired from the sea and encourage fishermen to switch to production and employment on the other hand has become an important proposition that needs to be answered from both theoretical and practical perspectives.This paper conducted a questionnaire survey on the production and living conditions of 350 fishermen in three county-level cities of Weihai,namely,Rushan,Rongcheng and Wendeng,and obtained 318 valid questionnaires.The results show that 72.71% of the fishermen have completed the change of production and occupation,among which 27.29% have not completed the change of production and occupation,80.50% are willing to change production and occupation,and nearly20% are less willing to change production and occupation.Of these,20.06% were willing to switch but faced difficulties in doing so,and 17.3% were less willing to switch and did not complete their switch.In order to encourage those fishermen who are willing to switch to other industries and those who are less willing to switch to other industries to do so,it is necessary to explain the influence of the willingness of fishermen to switch to other industries on their behaviour and to identify the factors influencing their willingness and behaviour.Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour,this paper draws four possible scenarios between the willingness and behaviour of the lost-sea fishermen to switch to other occupations;i.e."willing to switch to other occupations,already switched to other occupations","willing to switch to other occupations,not switched to other occupations","not willing to switch to other occupations,already switched to other occupations".The four possible scenarios are "willing to switch to another industry and have done so","willing to switch to another industry and have done so" and "unwilling to switch to another industry and have not done so".The study also analyses fishermen who have lost their livelihoods and have not switched.The factors influencing fishermen to switch to other occupations were divided into three dimensions: the basic characteristics of individual fishermen,family characteristics and government support.A bivariate probit model was used to analyse the factors influencing fishermen’s willingness and behaviour to switch to other occupations and found that,firstly,there was a high positive relationship between fishermen’s willingness and behaviour to switch to other occupations.Secondly,educational attainment contributes to the likelihood of switching to other occupations.Thirdly,the number of years in the fishery reduces the probability of fishermen’s willingness and behaviour to switch to other occupations.Fourthly,the share of fishing income in household income reduces the willingness and behaviour to switch to other industries.Finally,government support such as technical training and subsidies for switching jobs had a significant impact on increasing fishermen’s willingness to switch jobs,but not on their behaviour,while social security increased the probability of both fishermen’s willingness and behaviour to switch jobs.Therefore,to effectively promote the conversion of Weihai fishermen,firstly,we should increase investment in education and attach importance to the education of fishermen and their children;secondly,we should actively organise skills training courses to improve the labour skills of fishermen.Thirdly,fishermen should be encouraged to increase their non-fishing income and restructure the fishing industry by changing jobs,going out to work and starting their own businesses.Fourthly,fishermen should be guided to engage in secondary and tertiary industries,and a support policy system should be established and improved to support fishermen in switching to other industries.