The Political Economy of the Transition From Fishing to Tourism, in Placencia, Belize
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2002
Abstract
Placencia, a coastal village in southern Belize, is currently undergoing a transition of its economic base from fishing to tourism. Drawing upon the framework of dependency theory using a qualitative and quantitative analysis, this paper examines Placencia's economic transition. As a fishing economy, the villagers procured a wide variety of marine resources mainly for their own consumption and a limited local market. The high price paid for lobster and conch for consumption in the United States led to a decade of profitable exploitation of these resources and the successful organization of a fishermen's cooperative, encouraged by the government. This success led to over fishing and attracted fishermen from other parts of Belize and poachers from Honduras and Guatemala. As profits from lobster and conch began to decline ever more sharply after 1990, villagers began to convert to tourist related enterprises, formal and informal Using both field and secondary data from Belize Central America 1 attempt to analyze this transition from fishing to tourism. Placencia, un pueblo costeno del sur de Beiice, actualmente esta cambiando su base economica de la pesca al turismo. Inspirada en la teoria de la dependencia y usando un analysis cuantitivo y cualitativo este reporte examina el cambio economico de Placencia. Corno una economia de pesca el pueblo obtiene una variedad amplia de recursos marinos principalmente para su consumo propio y un mercado local limitado. El alto precio de la langosta y el caracol gue se paga en los Estados Unidos causo por una decada explotacion la lucrativa de estos recursos marinos y la exitosa organizacion de una cooperativa de pescadores aprovada por el gobierno. Este exito provoco la pesca desmesurada y atrajo a pescadores de otras partes de Belice y pescadoresfurivos de Oliatemela yHonduras. Lasganacias de la langosta yel caracol empezaron a bajar mas y mas rapido despues de 1990. El Pueblo empezo a tener negocios relacionados con el turismo, formal e informal. Usando informacion de campoy archivada de Belice America Central, intento analizar el cambio de la pesca al turismo.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
International Review of Modern Sociology, v. 30, no. 1/2, p. 1-18.
Scholar Commons Citation
Key, Carol Jane, "The Political Economy of the Transition From Fishing to Tourism, in Placencia, Belize" (2002). Strong Coasts Collection. 3.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/strong_coasts_pubs/3
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