Sea water change experienced by fishers and women divers in Jeju Island, South Korea: Narratives, reactions, and community change

The impact of environmental change is said to be greater upon social groups whose survival depends upon biomass use. The paper is aimed to address the impact of sea water change upon two occupational groups in Jeju island, South Korea: fishers and women divers. The two groups presented the major occupations in the island until the 1980s when tourism industry was introduced to the island by the central government and still include significant portion of people. While their livelihoods depend upon the availability of fishery resources in the island, interestingly their labor process reflects gender division and differing degree of technology involvement in their work: fishers (exclusively men) working above the sea water in a boat with diverse sets of technological devices whereas women divers (exclusively women) collecting seashell resources (such as abalones) deep under the water without any sophisticated devices. The paper describes their narratives of sea water change through their working career; how they have responded to the change in a collective level; and how their community has changed along with sea water change. For an empirical inquiry a qualitative interviewing data from eight fishers and eight women divers in the island will be used.