36 Coastal Anthropology

Ajeet Jaiswal

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Coastal Anthropology

3. Coast

4. Coastal Environments

5. Coastal Ecosystems

6. Human culture and the coastal and marine environment

7. Cultural Dimensions of Coastal Anthropology

8. Cultural dimensions of coastal ecosystems

9. Human Being and coasts

10. Coastal environments and health

11. Linking human and ecosystem health Summary

Learning objectives:

To understand the relationship between humans and coastal landscapes/ecosystem through space and time, as well as human adaptations to coastal environments.
To become familiar with multiple methods and theoretical perspectives used to study human ecosystems and interactions, with an emphasis on coastal systems.

1. Introduction

Human beings have a long historical relationship with the coast. Initially it provided food and security, later forming important locations for industrial and commercial development. Now the emphasis has shifted towards leisure and conservation, although the former functions remain crucial. However, it is only very recently that people have started viewing the coast as a common and valuable resource that requires rational utilisation and scientific management in order to sustain its attractiveness. Of course, enlightened management comes only through understanding of the complicated coastal regions, which enables coastal managers to balance pressures from different sectors and to minimize risks. Scientific knowledge will continue to be the most important basis for resolving the conflicts between coastal users and interest groups such as developers and ecologists. Coastal management has also shifted from traditional restorative or remedial actions towards planned avoidance of other conflicts. Despite rapid advancement in coastal sciences over recent decades, most of the major coastal issues have remained outstanding in the agenda. Control of shoreline erosion and protecting sea level rise continue to be crucial problems facing coastal scientists. Destructive coastal storms still cause tremendous damage, particularly in low altitudes. Wetland and estuary reclamation have led to the loss of the most valuable estuary wetlands which are required to sustain biological productivity and biodiversity (Asia-Pacific Conference on Science and Management of Coastal Environment Proceedings, 1996).

2. Coastal Anthropology

Coasts and coastal environments are supremely important in the history of humans, human societies and cultures. Anthropologists have long been interested in and have also been pioneers of studying and understanding the interactions between coasts and the human societies that utilize them. Throughout this course, we will explore human- inhabited coasts as social ecological systems subjected to both ecological and social/cultural processes and forces. Coastal Anthropology is related to the study of people and the coast in space and time.

Coastal anthropology is a field of anthropology specialized in the study of coast and coastal populations and ‘aquatic systems’. It aims to gain detailed knowledge and understanding of the different practices, thinking and cultures of or coastal people or fishers and their communities (Emilie and Denis, 2017. The notion of aquatic systems covers, in particular:

(1) Naturalist knowledge relating to aquatic animals and plants, the unstable environment of the sea and the ways in which the sea is changing,

(2) Technical systems pertaining to exploitation of the sea (fishing and navigation techniques),

(3) Modes of appropriating maritime and coastal zones, conflicts of use,

(4) Social relations among coastal people, inter-professional relationships, professional organisations (cooperatives, syndicates),

(5) The risks associated with fishing occupations and the resulting responses and strategies.

3. Coast

A coastline or a seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean (The American Heritage Dictionary,2008) or a line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake (The Merriam Webster Dictionary). A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the Coastline paradox. The term coastal zone is a region where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs (Nelson, 2007). Both the terms coast and coastal are often used to describe a geographic location or region; for example, New Zealand’s West Coast, or the East and West Coasts of the United States. Edinburgh for example is a city on the coast of Scotland.

A pelagic coast refers to a coast which fronts the open ocean, as opposed to a more sheltered coast in a gulf or bay. A shore, on the other hand, can refer to parts of the land which adjoin any large body of water, including oceans (sea shore) and lakes (lake shore). Similarly, the somewhat related term “Stream bed/bank” refers to the land alongside or sloping down to a river (river bank) or to a body of water smaller than a lake. “Bank” is also used in some parts of the world to refer to an artificial ridge of earth intended to retain the water of a river or pond; in other places this may be called a levee. While many scientific experts might agree on a common definition of the term “coast”, the delineation of the extents of a coast differ according to jurisdiction, with many scientific and government authorities in various countries differing for economic and social policy reasons. According to the UN atlas, 44% of people live within 150 kilometres (93 miles) of the sea (UN Atlas, 2013).

Figure 1 Coastal region terminology (Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1984)

4. Coastal Environments

In general, the coastal environment can be defined as that area lying at the interface between land and sea (or other large body of water). It includes both the zone of shallow water within which waves are able to move sediment, and the area landward of this zone, including beaches, cliffs, and coastal dunes, which is affected to some degree by the direct or indirect effects of waves, tides, and currents. While the terms shoreline and beach refer to the area of frequent, or at least occasional, wave action along the edge of the sea or a lake, the coastal environment itself may extend inland for many miles (kilometers).

A variety of factors—including wave energy, tidal range, sediment supply, sediment type, continental shelf slope and width, and past geologic history (e.g., glaciation, volcanism, and plate movement)— characterize coastal environments (https://www.nature.nps.gov/views /KCs/Coastal G/H TML /ET_Environments.htm).

5. Coastal Ecosystems

The earth’s ecosystems and its peoples are bound together in a grand and complex symbiosis. We depend on ecosystems to sustain us, but the continued health of ecosystems depends, in turn, on our use and care. Ecosystems are the productive engines of the planet, providing us with everything from the water we drink to the food we eat and the fiber we use for clothing, paper, or lumber. Yet, nearly every measure we use to assess the health of ecosystems tells us we are drawing on them more than ever and degrading them, in some cases at an accelerating pace. Our knowledge of ecosystems has increased dramatically in recent decades, but it has not kept pace with our ability to alter them. Economic development and human well-being will depend in large part on our ability to manage ecosystems more sustainably. We must learn to evaluate our decisions on land and resource use in terms of how they affect the capacity of ecosystems to sustain life — not only human life, but also the health and productive potential of plants, animals, and natural systems. A critical step in improving the way we manage the earth’s ecosystems is to take stock of their extent, their condition, and their capacity to provide the goods and services we will need in years to come.

An ecosystem is a collection of organisms and non-living objects in a certain area. Coastal regions are those places where water and land meet. Coastal ecosystems are therefore the collection of organisms that are found on the boundaries of oceans, lakes, rivers, and other forms of liquid water. The intrusion of water into the land creates unique environmental conditions characterized by a large number of habitats. As a result, the species diversity found in most coastal ecosystems is usually quite large. Coastal ecosystems are extremely sensitive to environmental perturbations. Current changes in the climate put pressure on the stability of these ecosystems.

6. Human culture and the coastal and marine environment

Culture—the totality of beliefs that humans use to shape their daily lives, relationships, behaviors, and activities, and ultimately their laws and policies—shapes not only human communities but, through the effects of human behavior, the non-human communities of the environment around them as well. Humans can and do affect the environment around them in ways that are sometimes shortsighted and unfortunate, but also sometimes forward-thinking, well planned and aimed towards conservation and sustainability.

Human cultures and societies are defined by the biological and physical environments in which they live. People who live near or on the ocean, or use its environments and resources for sustenance or recreation, develop cultures, economies, and lifestyles that reflect proximity to and dependence on those environments and resources. The human use and governance systems which we develop—such as marine managed areas—should be constructed to provide for the sustainable use of these environments and resources, and thus for sustainable human cultures, economies, and communities.

The interaction between human culture and the coastal and marine environment in the coastal region has over time produced unique cultural products, practices and cultural influences. Several historical and archaeological sites exist, some attached to the region’s rich maritime history, with slave trade as an important component. Evolution of cultures over the years (Seland, 2014) provide people with a range of heritage values, cultural identities and certain forms of spiritual services (UNESCO, 2003). Some of these landscapes have also attracted significant tourism due to their aesthetic and historical value. Equally important are traditional knowledge systems and institutions, some of which are given anecdotal or mythical reference, yet which illustrate existence of customary systems of resource management and local people’s understanding as well as appreciation of ecosystem functioning (Cinner and Aswani, 2007; Masalu et al., 2010). Marine resources, either used for cultural transactions or for direct consumption, are also part of the cultural heritage associated with the ecosystem, providing a range of benefits for the sustenance of coastal livelihoods.

Certain historical sites and landscapes have however suffered from poor management (Duarte, 2012), owing to factors that include changing value systems and physical intrusion, calling for concerted management efforts. At the same time, while some of the intangible heritage in the coastal region remains quite vibrant and dynamic, others are declining in cultural significance (Cinner, 2007; Sunde, 2013). Integration of customary systems in the management of resources is indicative of the region’s desire to support a holistic approach to management.

7. Cultural Dimensions of Coastal Anthropology

Environments are fundamental to the sociocultural wellbeing of people and contribute to people’s sense of place, wellbeing, relationships, and community resilience (Satterfield et al., 2013). Yet cultural values and their importance to conservation remain poorly understood (Chan et al., 2012; Satz et al., 2013). In this mini review we synthesize existing social sciences to build an approach for better integrating cultural dimensions into coastal conservation. Using examples from coastal ecosystems, our cultural dimensions of anthropo-ecological systems model illustrates five key interrelated cultural aspects: meanings, values, and identities; knowledge and practice; governance and access; livelihoods; and cultural interactions with biophysical environments.

8. Cultural dimensions of coastal ecosystems

Approaches to investigating coupled social and biophysical i.e anthropological complexity are needed for addressing the practical and scientific needs of anthropo- ecological systems (Berkes, 2012). A focus on cultural dimensions helps identify important interactions between coastal resources and social groups, and improves anthropo-ecological analyses and management.

The cultural dimensions of anthropo-ecological systems conceptual model highlighting five fundamental, interactive, and interrelated cultural aspects of ecosystems (Figure), synthesizing literature from marine social science.

Figure 2 Cultural dimensions of Anthropo-ecological systems model: key aspects and attributes

(Source: Melissa et al., 2013)

1. Cultural connection to ecosystems is rooted in meanings, values, and identity

Meanings, values, and identities are at the root of diverse cultural connections to ecosystems. Meanings, values, and identities develop through interactions with places and resources, which engage cognitive and emotional processes (e.g., knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs) and entail practices based in skills and relationships (Lauer and Aswani, 2009). Cultural significance can be attributed to objects, places, relationships, practices, and processes.

Cultural ecosystem meanings and values are often deep rooted and define a person or community; they are implicit in place attachments and senses of place (Burley et al., 2007); and often form the basis of community, individual, and professional identities (Smith, 1980; Clay and Olson, 2007). Cultural ecosystem meanings, values, and identities are also heterogeneous.

For example, Toth & Brown (1997) in their study of Mississippi Delta anglers, found that ethnicity and gender played a significant role in the diversity of meanings and importance attached to fishing by different groups (e.g., depending on one’s socioeconomic position, the importance of recreational fishing varied from relaxation to subsistence, cultural tradition, and social ties). Yet attention to the ways that ethnicity, gender, and other socioeconomic factors impact and shape communities’ ties to coastal ecosystems is often missing in fisheries management, as revealed in Hall-Arber’s (1996) study on Portuguese and Italian women’s experiences in New England.

Sociocultural actors (e.g., fishermen, women who work in processing plants, traditional shell fish harvesters, fisheries, biologists, etc.) interact with and experience environments in ways that shape their perceptions, beliefs, and held values toward these environments, constituting what Paolisso and Dery (2010) call “cultural models.” Cultural models are often abstract and include philosophical, spiritual, and moral views about environments, and these in turn shape the vision of how resources should be managed (Hall-Arber et al., 2009).

Finally, meanings, values, and identities are also dynamic, changing over time and space, as individuals and communities communicate, negotiate, and refine their orientations based on their practices, social relationships, and novel understandings.

2. Cultural dimensions of ecosystems are embedded in local ecological knowledge and practice

Local resource users maintain substantial knowledge on the environmental, social, and spatial conditions of ecosystems. This cumulative body of knowledge is called local ecological knowledge, and when local ecological knowledge, is developed and transferred over multiple generations, it is called traditional ecological knowledge (Berkes et al., 2000).

Local ecological knowledge is not simply a collection of data about the environment, but is embedded within sociocultural processes (Houde, 2007). Local knowledge are based in the “sensitivities, orientations, and skills that have developed over one’s lifetime through actual engagement in and performance of practical activities” (Lauer and Aswani, 2009). As such, knowledge is not simply “passed down” through generations per se, but continually regenerated through practical engagements with ecosystem components, articulated through language, local meanings, methods, and cultural cognitive models. Experientially-derived cognitive models depend on access to opportunities to engage in practices within social groups, and to build, maintain, and share Local ecological knowledge within relevant ecological parameters.

Culturally diverse knowledge systems are increasingly recognized as connected to global biological diversity (Maffi, 2005). In many cases, local ecological knowledge forms the knowledge basis for harvesting techniques and practices that are sustainable and which could contribute to anthropo-ecological conservation.

Incorporating diverse types of ecological knowledge into conservation and collaborating with alternative knowledge holders can build social and ecological resilience (Ommer et al., 2012). Many Local ecological knowledge -based practices also serve to maintain ecosystem processes and functions and enable adaptive management (Berkes et al., 2000). However, there are important power dilemmas to be addressed when local ecological knowledge, especially among indigenous knowledge holders, is considered. For instance, knowledge may be privileged or sacred; this is, held by select individuals who are endowed with rights to knowledge based in cultural norms and social relations (Shackeroff and Campbell, 2007).

3. Cultural dimensions of ecosystems are linked to livelihood dynamics

Ecosystems support livelihood activities with cultural implications. Much has been written elsewhere of the economic dimensions of commercial fishing (Pascoe, 2006) as well as demographic aspects of fishing dependent coastal communities (Norman et al., 2007). Coastal ecosystems also support noncommercial personal use, subsistence fishing, and other informal economic activities, which are tied in complex ways to the other cultural dimensions.

Subsistence fishing and harvesting, for example, is a practice often motivated by food provisioning rather than catching or processing species for sale and income generation (Pollnac et al., 2006). Subsistence fishing might include personal or family-level consumption to meet or supplement household food needs, or procurement for others distributed through sharing, gifting, and bartering (Schumann and Macinko, 2007). Subsistence feeds bodily and spiritual nourishment and is often linked to culture, Local ecological knowledge, social relations, and food traditions (Berkes, 1990; Pollnac et al., 2006; Schumann and Macinko, 2007).

4. Cultural dimensions of ecosystems influence and are influenced by governance and access

Woven throughout this synthesis, and implicit in collaborative conservation, is the recognition that resource management and governance institutions shape and are shaped by cultural dimensions of ecosystems. Mechanisms such as harvest controls (e.g., timing, location, species, quantities, and techniques), formal and customary rules of access to resources, and decision-making processes constitute governance.

Marine governance is at once a set of institutional (i.e., political and economic) structures, and also tied to underlying philosophies, social norms, relationships, and knowledge systems embedded in those structures at all scales. Whether through community-based management approaches stemming from local use and tenure norms, or codified in regional conservation efforts, the issue of scale (spatial, temporal, and organizational) has important implications both for socioeconomic analyses of coastal communities, as well as the cultural outcomes of multi-scalar governance (Charles ,2012).

The “community level” is a predominant analytical scale for cultural phenomena, and yet the community scale is frequently a “missing link” in conservation where attention is often paid toward the individual, the market, or the state (Jentoft, 2000). It is at the community scale where, for example, much of the scholarship on fisheries collective action—and its enabling sociocultural conditions— focuses. These studies explore local structures and processes (e.g., kinship patterns, social relations, customary tenure, and taboos, etc.) that govern fishing effort, crew organization, and resource access rights, often congruent with community-based management of common pool resources (Ostrom, 1990).

So-called “top-down” management–centralized actions originating outside of a local context– can enable or disrupt cultural processes. In the United States, federal fisheries management has been structured around the dual goals to conserve fish stocks and make harvesting economically efficient. Although newer ecosystem-based management approaches attempt to shift away from the sustained maximum yield model (Kaplan and Levin, 2009), cultural norms and social institutions rarely figure into fisheries management (Jentoft, 2000).

In a number of cases, management actions have impacted marginalized communities and exacerbated inequalities. For example, Allen and Gough (2006) described how U.S. long line prohibitions enacted in 2001 had disproportionately negative impacts on Vietnamese-American fishing communities in Hawaii with adverse effects on health and wellbeing, livelihoods, and community cohesion.

In the Gulf of Alaska, Carothers et al. (2010) detailed how policy changes toward a system of market-based fishing rights (e.g., individual fishing quotas for halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)) concentrated access and wealth for fewer quota holders at the demise of small-scale fishermen and rural (mostly indigenous) communities.

Participatory collaborative management can improve the adoption and legitimacy of management actions by communities who are impacted (Hard et al., 2012). Adaptive conservation approaches designed to diversify stakeholder involvement hold promise for increasing equity in management (Kearney et al., 2007). For example, in coastal areas of Northeast United States, Hall-Arber (2007) designed a collaborative project involving community members in all phases to identify and explain regional concerns, including: social science needs identification, project management, data collection, results analysis, and project reporting. The process improved mutual understanding between various community stakeholder groups and managers of their unique concerns. Mutual understanding ultimately facilitated more participatory decision-making. Factors such as histories of collective action and other dimensions of social capacity are also important variables in degrees of success (Hanna, 1995). Conservation can benefit from locally adapted ecosystem governance (vis- ` a-vis institutions, knowledge systems, and social relations) in nested local, regional, and larger scale ecosystems (Berkes, 2012).

5. Cultural dimensions are inherently linked to ecological processes

Habitat condition, species assemblages, and related ecological processes are essential to people’s engagements with coastal ecosystems. In recent years, social scientists have called for more careful integration of ecological data into the study of human–environmental interactions (Nygren and Rikoon, 2008; Charnley and Durham, 2010).

Ecological integrity is the ability of an ecological system to support and maintain a community of organisms that has a species composition, diversity, and functional organization comparable to ecosystems within a region (Parrish et al., 2003). Evaluating the relationship between ecological integrity and cultural wellbeing requires a detailed examination of cultural interactions with a specific ecosystem component. For example, for a human community that is culturally attached to salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.), changes to the trophic structure (or food web) within which salmon is embedded will have specific implications for cultural wellbeing in ways that aggregated ecological integrity measures may not reveal.

The “cultural keystone” concept may offer important ways to think about and evaluate the links between ecological integrity and cultural wellbeing. Garibaldi and Turner (2004) define cultural keystone species as “the culturally salient species that shape in a major way the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices.” These species play a particularly influential role in the social system of a community and its cultural identity; so much so, that loss of access (whether owing to ecological or sociopolitical changes) would have drastic impacts on the community in question (Garibaldi and Turner, 2004). Although a “species approach” seemingly departs from an “ecosystems approach” to conservation, focusing on cultural keystone species ironically allows an integrated analysis precisely because it explores the nonlinear and multivariate web of human-environment relationships linked to a foundation species within an ecosystem.

One such cultural keystone species is abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) for the Gitxaala First Nation community in Northern British Columbia. Abalone’s importance is based on long-term harvesting, processing, trade, and ceremonial practices (Menzies, 2010). Despite depletion in recent decades and the subsequent closure of the commercial fishery, abalone remains integral to what it means to be Gitxaala. Elders in the community experience grief and loss over the closure, but maintain its importance to younger generations through story, song, and lessons on sustainable harvesting practices in hopes that abalone will recover (Menzies, 2010).

A second cultural keystone species example, oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are highly valued and symbolic to Chesapeake Bay coastal communities (Paolisso and Dery, 2010). The cultural importance of oysters motivates community engagement with ecological restoration, with the explicit understanding that oyster restoration supports integrated ecological, economic, and cultural benefits (Paolisso and Dery, 2010). Understanding and communicating the importance of these biophysical values vis-a-vis their cultural interaction is one pathway to protect them.

Ecological restoration is a more recent example of the ways that humans have historically modified environments toward a desired outcome. In many contexts, ecosystems have been actively managed and altered to various degrees to enhance certain processes, create habitats, and increase productivity of desired species (Lepofsky and Caldwell, 2013). Often called “bio-cultural landscapes,” some coastal ecosystems have been historically co-produced through biophysical processes and customary landscape management practices. Examples of culturally modified coastal ecosystems include the construction of rock walls, weirs, terraces, and cleared beaches to support clam gardens and increase marine ecosystem productivity in Northern Coast Salish inter-tidal areas (Lepofsky and Caldwell, 2013).

Another example of altered ecosystems includes interventions in ecological food webs through the control of competitors and predators to influence trophic cascades and enhance the availability of important food resources. For example, Erlandson et al. (2005) documented past human predation on sea otters (Enhydra lutris) to increase the abundance of abalone, urchins (Strongylocentrotus spp.), and kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera and Nereocystis luetkeana) in Northern California. These examples illustrate ways that humans are important components of ecological processes, just as ecological processes are important to cultural practices, knowledge systems, and ways of life.

Natural oceanographic fluctuations, flooding, and tsunamis as well as anthropogenically caused climate change, ocean acidification, marine biotoxins, and fisheries collapse also have fundamental implications for cultural interactions. Coastal communities contending with fluctuating environmental factors have developed strategies to endure and adapt to these changes; however, the degree and compounded complexity of more recent changes may become more challenging. For example, Moerlin and Carothers (2012) characterize the observations of and responses to climate change faced by In Upiaq subsistence fishing communities in Northwestern Alaska.

Biophysical changes (e.g., new freeze-thaw ice cycles, increased erosion, and shallower rivers) have meant fewer fish resources and increased difficulty in seasonal access to harvesting and hunting sites, among other impacts. In Upiaq communities must also contend with an array of social, economic, and political changes with cumulative impacts on wellbeing, including: loss of Local ecological knowledge and traditional technologies owing to modernization, as well as youth out migration in search of wage-earning jobs owing to high fuel costs, among other political-economic changes. It is ultimately insufficient to study either environmental changes (vis-a-vis changes in biophysical conditions) or human engagements with changing conditions as isolated topics disconnected from one another, or from the myriad stressors affecting both (Moerlin and Carothers, 2012).

9. Human Being and coasts

More and more of the world’s people live in coastal regions (Goudarzi, 2006). Many major cities are on or near good harbors and have port facilities. Some landlocked places have achieved port status by building canals. The coast is a frontier that nations have typically defended against military invaders, smugglers and illegal migrants. Fixed coastal defenses have long been erected in many nations and coastal countries typically have a navy and some form of coast guard.

Coasts, especially those with beaches and warm water, attract tourists. In many island nations such as those of the Mediterranean, South Pacific and Caribbean, tourism is central to the economy. Coasts offer recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, surfing, boating, and sunbathing. Growth management can be a challenge for coastal local authorities who often struggle to provide the infrastructure required by new residents.

Coasts also face many human induced environmental impacts. The human influence on climate change is thought to contribute to an accelerated trend in sea level rise which threatens coastal habitats. Pollution can occur from a number of sources: garbage and industrial debris; the transportation of petroleum in tankers, increasing the probability of large oil spills; small oil spills created by large and small vessels, which flush bilge water into the ocean. Fishing has declined due to habitat degradation, overfishing, trawling, by catch and climate change. Since the growth of global fishing enterprises after the 1950s, intensive fishing has spread from a few concentrated areas to encompass nearly all fisheries. The scraping of the ocean floor in bottom dragging is devastating to coral, sponges and other long lived species that do not recover quickly. This destruction alters the functioning of the ecosystem and can permanently alter species composition and biodiversity. Bycatch, the capture of unintended species in the course of fishing, is typically returned to the ocean only to die from injuries or exposure. Bycatch represents about a quarter of all marine catch. In the case of shrimp capture, the bycatch is five times larger than the shrimp caught. It is believed that melting Arctic ice will cause sea levels to rise and flood coastal areas.

Conservation: Extraordinary population growth in the 21st century has placed stress on the planet’s ecosystems. For example, on Saint Lucia, harvesting mangrove for timber and clearing for fishing reduced the mangrove forests, resulting in a loss of habitat and spawning grounds for marine life that was unique to the area. These forests also helped to stabilize the coastline. Conservation efforts since the 1980s have partially restored the ecosystem.

10. Coastal environments and health

There is widespread agreement among both scientists and members of the general public that many coastal environments are in poor health. Just what is meant by “health” and how to measure it is a different matter, with no commonly accepted criteria or benchmarks. To many members of the public and medical profession, a principal concern is the risk posed to humans from exposure to pathogens or toxicants in the coastal environment or in seafood. To others, the health of coastal environments may mean the ability of the ecosystem to support fisheries, provide clean waters, or assure a diverse biota.

This overview offers a perspective on the current status of defining and measuring the health of coastal environments. In particular, the relationship between human and ecosystem health, propose a model for describing ecosystem health, assess criteria for useful indicators of ecosystem health, and examine the relevance of commonly measured indicators to perceived emerging risks for coastal environments.

11. Linking human and ecosystem health

There is growing evidence that many disturbances of ecosystems, such as pollution, overharvesting, physical disruption, or climate forces, are associated with increased frequency or virulence of diseases of aquatic organisms (Harvell et al., 1999). However, some disturbances, like harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and coral bleaching, contribute to, rather than cause, disease. The analysis of “emerging diseases as indicators of change” is an approach that considers human and ecological health in the same context (Sherman and Epstein, 2001; Sherman, 2001) under the assumption that ecosystem disturbances are the driving forces. While this connection is important to make, the approach must be examined carefully within a risk assessment context. One typically finds that, in areas of extreme pollution or environmental degradation, the health of both humans and aquatic organisms are at risk.

However, human health risks are not associated always with coastal degradation, and sometimes significant human health risks arise in coastal environments considered to be quite ‘healthy’. It is clear that human health may be threatened either by consumption of fish and shellfish contaminated with algal biotoxins, toxic chemicals, and microbial pathogens or by direct exposure to these pathogens or biotoxins. However, the relationship of these exposure conditions to the productivity or integrity of the ecosystem, its ‘health’, is seldom clear and straight forward.

De Rosa and Hicks (2001) discussed risks to human health from the bio-accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish from environmental contamination that may have effects on the aquatic communities. But these community-level effects have little or no relationship to actual human exposure. In another example, Tamplin (2001) reports that outbreaks of diseases associated with species of Vibrio bacteria (including cholera) have been linked to environments with warm water temperature, high organic load and plankton blooms, but concludes that temperature rather than pollution is the most important factor determining an outbreak. In summary, there is no overwhelming evidence that degraded coastal ecosystems are always associated with greater risks to human health.

Summary

Human beings have a long historical relationship with the coast.
Initially it provided food and security, later forming important locations for industrial and commercial development.
Coasts and coastal environments are supremely important in the history of humans, human societies, and cultures.
Coastal anthropology is a field of anthropology specialized in the study of coast and coastal populations and ‘aquatic systems’.
A coastline or a seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean
In general, the coastal environment can be defined as that area lying at the interface between land and sea (or other large body of water).
Earth’s ecosystems and its peoples are bound together in a grand and complex symbiosis.
An ecosystem is a collection of organisms and non-living objects in a certain area.
Culture—the totality of beliefs that humans use to shape their daily lives, relationships, behaviors, and activities, and ultimately their laws and policies—shapes not only human communities but, through the effects of human behavior, the non-human communities of the environment around them as well.
Humans can and do affect the environment around them in ways that are sometimes shortsighted and unfortunate, but also sometimes forward-thinking, well planned and aimed towards conservation and sustainability.
Environments are fundamental to the sociocultural wellbeing of people and contribute to people’s sense of place, wellbeing, relationships, and community resilience.
Approaches to investigating coupled social and biophysical i.e anthropological complexity are needed for addressing the practical and scientific needs of anthropo- ecological systems
More and more of the world’s people live in coastal regions.
Many major cities are situated near good harbors and have port facilities. Coasts also face many human induced environmental impacts.
There is widespread agreement among both scientists and members of the general public that many coastal environments are in poor health. Just what is meant by “health” and how to measure it is a different matter, with no commonly accepted criteria or benchmarks.
There is growing evidence that many disturbances of ecosystems, such as pollution, overharvesting, physical disruption, or climate forces, are associated with increased frequency or virulence of diseases of aquatic organisms

you can view video on Coastal Anthropology

Glossary

Coastal Anthropology:

Coastal Anthropology is related to the study of people and the coast in space and time.Coastal anthropology is a field of anthropology specialized in the study of coast and coastal populations and ‘aquatic systems’. It aims to gain detailed knowledge and understanding of the different practices, thinking and cultures of or coastal people or fishers and their communities

Coast:

A coastline or a seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean or a line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the Coastline paradox. The term coastal zone is a region where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs. Both the terms coast and coastal are often used to describe a geographic location or region

Coastal Environments:

Coastal Ecosystems

Coastal ecosystems are the collection of organisms that are found on the boundaries of oceans, lakes, rivers, and other forms of liquid water.

Interesting facts

Human beings have a long historical relationship with the coast.
Coasts and coastal environments are supremely important in the history of humans,human societies, and cultures.
Coastal anthropology is a field of anthropology specialized in the study of coast and coastal populations and ‘aquatic systems’.
A coastline or a seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean
Earth’s ecosystems and its peoples are bound together in a grand and complex symbiosis.
An ecosystem is a collection of organisms and non-living objects in a certain area.
Culture—that totality of beliefs that humans use to shape their daily lives, relationships, behaviors, and activities.
Humans can and do affect the environment around them.
Environments are fundamental to the socioculturalwellbeing of people. More and more of the world’s people live in coastal regions.
Many major cities are on or near good harbors and have port facilities. Coasts also face many human induced environmental impacts.
There is widespread agreement among both scientists and members of the general public that many coastal environments are in poor health.
There is growing evidence that many disturbances of ecosystems, such as pollution, overharvesting, physical disruption, or climate forces, are associated with increased frequency or virulence of diseases of aquatic organisms

References

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Asia-Pacific Conference on Science and Management of Coastal Environment Proceedings of the International Conference held in Hong Kong, 25–28 June 1996
Berkes, F., Colding, J. & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery oftraditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management.Ecol. Appl., 10, 1251-1262.
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