Research On The Influence Of Fishermen’s Livelihood Capital On The Income Quality

The ten-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River Basin is a major implementation of the green development concept of the Yangtze River,and an important initiative for rural reform in the context of China’s rural revitalisation development.It has kicked off the exploration of a new socio-economic development model for the river basin in China.This radical institutional change has disrupted the production and lifestyle of231000 fishermen in the Yangtze River.Despite the large amount of funds invested in the fishing ban at central and local levels,and the introduction of a series of resettlement measures,fishermen were still facing serious challenges to their livelihoods,and grassroots governments were under great pressure to provide aftercare and maintain stability.As the ultimate implementers of the fishing ban policy and the most important subjects of interest,the income security of fishermen after retiring from fishing is directly related to the smooth promotion of the fishing ban policy,and determines the maintenance of the ecological effectiveness of the ten-year fishing ban.Livelihood capital,as the basis for fishermen’s livelihood activities,affects the income level of fishermen’s households after they have retired from fishing.Therefore,based on sustainable livelihoods theory,this paper explored the underlying mechanism of the initial state of livelihood capital affecting the quality of fishermen’s income,and analyzed the long-term mechanism for sustaining the income of retiring fishermen.On the one hand,it could provide a direction for individual fishermen to work towards,stimulate the endogenous motivation to switch to employment,and enhance the sense of security and well-being of retired fishermen,and on the other hand,it could provide a grasp for the introduction of subsequent policies by local provinces and municipalities,so that the upper-level institutional design could be more relevant to the actual situation or livelihood of the grassroots,which was of great significance in promoting the realisation of ecological protection of the Yangtze River and safeguarding the livelihood of retired fishermen.Based on sustainable livelihood theory and farmers’ behaviour theory,this paper used literature collation and analysis,field research and empirical analysis,sorted out the relevant studies on livelihood capital,income influencing factors and ecological compensation policies at home and abroad,and constructed a framework for assessing the income quality.This paper selected 367 fishermen households in 11 districts and counties in Hunan Province as research subjects to investigate the fishermen’s livelihood capital,livelihood strategies and household income,to explore the impact of different ecological compensation policies on fishermen’s livelihood capital and household income quality,and the heterogeneity of fishermen of different age structures.At the same time,on the basis of understanding the influencing mechanisms of income changes of fishermen,this paper analyzed the pathways of employment behaviour in the role of livelihood capital on changes in fishermen’s income.According to the research findings:(1)After the implementation of the ten-year fishing ban system,the income level of fishermen’s families dropped significantly in the short term,and the income gap between fishermen intensified.The government has strengthened the resettlement and protection of fishermen in three areas: subsidies and compensation,employment assistance and social security.However,fishermen’s livelihoods were still facing serious challenges and there was still much room for improving the quality level of income.(2)The implementation of compensation policies,social security policies and employment policies could effectively contribute to both the accumulation of fishermen’s livelihood capital and the income quality.The compensation policy of the Yangtze River Basin could affect income quality by increasing fishermen’s capital endowment,with the most significant effect on income quality through enhancing fishermen’s human capital level,the second most effective through financial capital,and the least effective through social capital.(3)The original difference of livelihood capital will affect the income quality.Human capital,financial capital,social capital and material capital all significantly affected the quality of income,and human capital had the greatest impact.There was age heterogeneity in the impact of livelihood capital on income quality.For young and middle-aged fishermen,the number of family labor force,labor experience,education level and health status,social network,difficulty of financing funds would greatly affect the quality of income,while the accumulation of material wealth of elderly fishermen determined the current quality of life.The main mechanisms by which livelihood capital affected the quality of fishermen’s income were that human capital,social capital,natural capital and physical capital exerted influence both by affecting the fishermen employability and by influencing their employment motivation.That is to say,employability and employment effort played a partially mediating role in the process of human and social capital influencing income quality,and a fully mediating role in the process of physical capital influencing income quality.Meanwhile,financial capital,while positively determining the level of household income quality,could somewhat dampen fishermen’s efforts to re-enter employment.(4)Human capital has a significant positive impact on all dimensions of income quality,with the largest impact being on the labour quantity.Beyond this,there were differences in the effects of other livelihood capital on the adequacy,structure,growth,knowledge and cost of household income.The more actively fishermen participate in public affairs,the richer their social networks,and the easier it is to raise funds,the greater the opportunities to earn income,and the more adequate their income.The more abundant the means of land production and material resources,the more active participation in public affairs,the easier it is to raise funds,the more diversified the access to income and the richer the income structure.The greater the accumulation of primary material wealth,the greater the knowledge content of income and the potential for future growth.The easier it is to access information resources,the lower the cost of obtaining income.Based on the above findings,the paper made recommendations to categorise fishermen according to their age structure,to focus fishing ban funds on the cultivation of employability,to increase the support of rural “competent persons” and financial assistance,to enrich the channels for local conversion and to improve fishing ban compensation policies.