Mutualism or Parasitism? Dive Tourism and Marine Protected Areas
Mike Fabinyi, Australian National University
Mutualism or Parasitism? Dive Tourism and Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have frequently been used by fisheries managers and conservationists as a means to increase fish stocks both within the MPA and the surrounding area. Recently, many conservationists and local governments in the Philippines (and other tropical countries) have attempted to link these MPAs with dive tourism in tropical countries, arguing that the user fees generated by dive tourism can be used firstly for maintenance of the MPA, and secondly to provide financial benefits for the communities whose fishing livelihoods are disrupted by the presence of the MPA. In this paper I will present an account of the relationship between MPAs and dive tourism in the Calamianes Islands, Philippines. I focus on the personal and social relationships between foreign dive operators and the local Filipino fishers and government officials, showing how they influenced the nature of the debate over user fees. I argue that although the assumed harmonious relationship between marine conservation and dive tourism may work in theory, in practice different understandings of MPAs and tourism can create conflict.
