Abstract or Keywords
Abstract: Globally, access to wild fishery resources provides essential subsistence protein and livelihood support for millions of people. In urbanized areas of the global north, wild fishery resources--and the act of fishing for them--fulfill a variety of critical and overlapping needs that are not easily categorized as purely subsistence, recreational, or commercial: for food, socializing, cultural traditions, mental health, and connections to the environment and nonhuman species. At the same time, both regulatory and environmental changes can pose challenges to accessing these benefits. Employing a case study of fishing in Tampa Bay, FL, USA, this paper explores the challenges and opportunities involved in accessing wild fishery resources in a large metropolitan area. Using data from in-person surveys, field notes, and newspaper articles, we examine where people fish and how they respond to the shifting accessibility of fishing sites. We trace how access to fishery resources has changed both over the long term and more recently, after Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the region in 2024. We probe what limitations to access are most challenging for people, as well as the ways fishers exhibit resilience in the face of these challenges. In doing so, we engage with literature on provisioning fisheries, infrastructures of care, and abundant futures. We find that while fishers are often individually resourceful, a variety of intertwined physical and social infrastructures are important for fostering both individual and community resilience. Most essential are those infrastructures that enable diffuse water access across the region. Particularly post-hurricanes, it is important to focus on rebuilding local shore fishing infrastructures to support easier access to fishery resources and the provisioning benefits they provide.