will depend, in large part, on the degree to 

 which the people of coastal areas can take ad- 

 vantage of the opportunities which arise. 

 Fishermen can respond to the new economic 

 opportunities presented by extended jurisdic- 

 tion by adopting new boats and sophisticated 

 fishing equipment or by using existing equip- 

 ment coupled with new fishing and marketing 

 strategies. If large numbers of people are will- 

 ing and able to change existing practices or to 

 invest in new boats and processing equipment 

 embodying new technology, then the effects 

 throughout the social and economic structure 



L S .\a,y Photo 



Many innovations may be necessary in the care of equipment 

 and catch if thie domestic fistiing industry is to expand 



of the coastal communities will be enormous. 

 If fishermen cannot or will not respond, 

 offshore fishing may be gradually taken over 

 by large corporations. 



A central problem then is to understand the 

 ability of the people of the coastal areas to 

 adopt innovation, particularly sophisticated 

 fishing equipment. The effects of changes on 

 the rest of the social system cannot be assessed 

 until this is understood. 



In order to assess this ability, fishery 

 managers must have the answers to several 

 basic questions. 



a) What assets must men have to suc- 

 cessfully adopt new fishing technology? 



To answer this question, it is necessary to 

 have data on ability to amass capital, ability to 

 save, lending institutions, certain kinds of kin- 

 ship ties, skills that influence the maintenance 

 and output of fishing boats and determine 

 success in commercial fishing, crew organiza- 

 tion, social ties, and the norms which regulate 

 entry into fisheries. 



b) How many men in a particular area have 

 the requirements for a successful large- 

 scale fishing operation? 



Some insight into the answer to this ques- 

 tion could be gained by studying the strategies 

 which men currently engaged in large-scale 

 fishing have used in getting assets necessary 

 for adoption of better fishing technology. 



c) How many of the men who have the re- 

 quirements for a successful large opera- 

 tion, or can easily acquire them, are in- 

 terested and motivated to invest in 

 modern equipment? 



In order to study patterns of adoption of 

 new innovations, data should be gathered 

 from both large and small operators about the 

 characteristics of men who were "early adop- 

 ters" of innovations in the past; the factors 



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