Study On The Sustainable Livelihood Of Fishermen In The Southern Suzhou Of The Ten-year Ban On Fishing In The Yangtze River

On 1 January 2021,the State officially implemented a ten-year ban on fishing in key waters of the Yangtze River basin.The main objective of the 10-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River is to protect the fishery resources of the Yangtze River and give fish a chance to recuperate,in order to restore species populations,improve fish stocks and achieve harmonious development between humans and nature.At the same time,however,the programme will inevitably lead to a significant deterioration in the basic livelihoods of fishermen in the Yangtze River basin,as they lose their natural resources to sustain their livelihoods.It is therefore a new academic issue to protect and even improve the livelihoods of fishermen in the Yangtze River basin while adhering to the ten-year ban on fishing.In this paper,a field study was conducted for two consecutive years on 183 fishermen who had retired from fishing in the coastal villages of Jingjiang County,Wujin District,Yixing City,Wuzhong District and Wujiang District in southern Jiangsu Province,and data on their sustainable livelihoods were obtained through field surveys,questionnaires and interviews.The data were summarised using Excel,satat and other computer software.Through literature reading and other methods,we learned about the development and application of sustainable livelihood models.After confirming that there is sufficient theoretical research in China to ensure its feasibility,the data was analysed using the DFID sustainable livelihoods analysis framework,which is currently the most commonly used internationally,and the final results were obtained.The introduction of the Sustainable Livelihoods Research Framework into the study will help researchers to gain a new perspective on the composition of fishers’ livelihood capital and the productive livelihoods of fishers after the fishing ban,and will help policy makers to rationalise the design of projects in the early stages,guide and implement them in the middle stages,and evaluate their effectiveness in the later stages.It is therefore significant to use the Sustainable Livelihoods Research Framework(SLRF)to study the issue of retiring fishers,to make the research more scientific and to provide guidance for better addressing the livelihoods of fishers.This paper uses the DFID framework to establish a system of indicators to evaluate the sustainability of fishermen’s livelihoods after retiring from fishing,combining data from research to establish a system of 12 secondary indicators to describe the system.The weights of the indicators were determined by the entropy method and the sustainable livelihoods of fishermen in some districts and counties in southern Jiangsu were calculated for two years.The results of the study showed thatThe age structure of the group of fishers interviewed who lost their fishing livelihoods as a result of the 10-year fishing ban in key waters of the Yangtze River Basin is ageing,with more than 65% of those aged over 50.Literacy levels are generally low,with an illiteracy rate of around 38.79%.The degree of specialisation is high,with 71.03% of those whose fishing income is the sole or main source of livelihood for the family.This is evidence of the highly significant vulnerability of retreating fishers,who are less resilient in the face of risky environments and more susceptible to receive more severe livelihood damage.At the same time,the livelihood strategies of fishers are conservative.Only 4.37% feel that they are likely or even very likely to find a job with a similar level of income and hard work as when they were fishing,only about 7.65% have attended three or more government-organised skills training sessions,and 83.6% of the group is still hoping to return to fishing.As a result,fishermen are not actively looking for new ways to transform their livelihoods,and some are even resistant to switching to other occupations.Due to the improved compensation mechanism,fishermen are not caught in a vicious cycle of severe loss of livelihood capital,contraction of livelihood strategies,and declining livelihood outcomes that backfire on livelihood capital,and there are no incidents of return to poverty.Despite the fact that 75.95% of fishermen’s incomes have dropped significantly as a result of retreat,support for the retreat policy and satisfaction with their livelihoods have remained at a good level due to a combination of factors such as the disparity between rich and poor in the group and little change in quality of life.Comparing the sustainable livelihood indicator values for the two years,it can be seen that the sustainable livelihood capital value of the retreating fishermen is higher in2021(1.2202)than in 2022(0.9441).In both years,the highest livelihood capital indicator is physical capital(0.5359 vs.0.4160)and the lowest livelihood capital indicator is natural capital(0.0603 vs.0.0238).This indicates that fishermen still have a strong material base,with high conditions of house construction and household equipment,but natural capital has fallen off a cliff due to the ban on fishing and retreating from fishing.A comprehensive comparison of the five indicators shows that there is little change with all the indicators except for a significant drop in natural capital,but all of them are lower in 2022 than in 2021.After being forcibly cut off by the fishing ban,the poorer the fishing,the poorer the fishing,the more the fishermen have not been able to recover their sustainable livelihood capital in two years,change their livelihood strategies to complete the switch,and even begin to see a year-on-year decline in livelihood levels,.Human capital,financial capital,social capital and social capital,as well as the overall assessment of sustainable livelihoods,have not declined or increased particularly significantly,but are still at low levels,and ex-fishermen are still at the edge of poverty.This paper argues that from the perspective of the DFID Sustainable Livelihoods Analysis Model,ex-fishermen are objectively suffering from a lack of capacity,ageing and social disconnection to resume normal livelihoods.At the same time,they lack sufficient endogenous motivation to change the status quo.The ten-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze is a long-term policy,and within the current two-year period,the government has provided strong support and the fishermen have sufficient savings,so the problems are not outstanding.There are no insurmountable livelihood problems for the retreating fishermen.But beneath the calm fa?ade lies the fact that sustainable livelihoods are being rated lower.However,if there is still no change in mindset to complete the switch to other livelihoods as soon as possible,retreating fishers who have never regained sustainable livelihood assets may,due to their vulnerability,suffer significant livelihood damage due to various small risk circumstances,which once led to either a return to poverty or their desperate choice to return to fishing is a negative impact on the 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze.The 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze is not an overnight event,and its impacts should be assessed over a long period of time.Periodic assessments and surveys should be conducted to ensure the correct implementation of the policy.It would be better for local governments to communicate more with retiring fishermen and build up a relationship of mutual trust in order to work better.Retired fishermen should look more to the future,let go of a life of fishing that they can no longer return to,and adopt more positive livelihood strategies for a healthy and stable sustainable development.