Social and economic context of marine resource depletion in Gagil and Maap, Yap State, FSM

The central aim of the International Waters Project (executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme) is to address the root causes of coastal and marine environmental degradation in each of the 14 participating countries. In Yap State, which serves as the pilot location for IWP in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), IWP proposes the use of MPAs as a marine resource management tool. The present study is aimed at determining both the social and economic context of resource depletion in Yap State, as well as the socioeconomic impact of the implementation of MPAs. The project is focused on four clusters of villages on the main island group, in the districts of Rumung, Maap, Gagil and Gilman (see Fig. 1). The population of the main group of islands in 2000 was 7,391. With a total land area of 100.4 km2 this gives a population density of 73.6 people/km2. However, prehistoric population densities are likely to have been at least four times this figure. Population growth is slow compared to less developed Pacific states. The economy is heavily subsidized by US aid, under the Compact of Free Association, which has meant that higher levels of education and health care have been available in FSM than in many other Pacific countries. This has a significant bearing on the likely level of community support for MPAs as a fishery management tool. However the state-supported Customary Marine Tenure system, which will be examined closely in this study, means that any lack of cooperation between tenure-holding groups could potentially pose problems for MPAs.

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978-982-04-0364-2

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