Beaufort Waterfront | 1907 • Source
Making Sense of Coastal Change
It is clear from the changes outlined in this story map that Beaufort as a town and community have shifted from an identity centered on commercial fishing to an identity centered on coastal living. Beaufort is still a space that values its connection to the ocean, but this relationship has entirely changed from reliance to enjoyment - this shift in identity has shaped the political, economic, and social fabric of the Beaufort that we know now.
Contextualizing This Story
This story map has detailed how intricate the transformations brought on by coastal gentrification are in one town. While changes in fisheries and tourism were major factors in reshaping Beaufort’s identity, this restructuring was not happening in a vacuum. As illustrated throughout this story map, this process cannot be viewed in isolation - change in one dimension is enmeshed with changes in another. However, in order to understand how coastal gentrification manifests locally, it is important to contextualize this phenomenon with broader shifts. When broadening the scope of the analysis, we learn that local changes are in movement with and reacting to trends at the regional, national, and global level and culminate in the gentrification of coastal spaces (7, 35, 36).
The decline in fisheries cannot simply be attributed to a change in fisheries regulations, but rather this decline has been occurring due to a variety of factors - over time, ocean health has degraded, operation costs have increased (37), fisheries infrastructure has diminished (9), technological advancements in fishing have lowered employment opportunities, and market demands for seafood have changed (38). Simultaneously, environmental concerns for marine resources have become more prominent, and as a result, fisheries regulations have consolidated commercial fishing effort (37, 38). A globalized economy has impacted the demand for domestic seafood, as international products are less expensive due to comparative advantage (37, 38). Additionally, the rise in tourism and recreation cannot simply be explained as an economic replacement to the declining fishing industry, but rather this is occurring due to a variety of factors - over time, leisure has become an increasingly important cultural value (39), modern transportation networks have improved access to even the most remote places (36), an increase in disposable income has resulted in more people being able to purchase second homes (40), a more globalized world has results in a devaluing of productivist spaces (7), and there has been a national mass migration to coastal places (36, 3). When viewed collectively, the changes in Beaufort’s fisheries and tourism industries occurred as a result of not just local decision making, but rather by the external forces of a changing world.
For additional details about other changes in Beaufort, click here.
This Story Was Never Just About Beaufort
While this case study focused on Beaufort, North Carolina, the changes that occurred in this community had greater ramifications for the fishing industry in Carteret County as a whole. Coastal gentrification of Beaufort has made it increasingly difficult for neighboring communities to maintain their commercial fishing industries, specifically in the eastern part of the county (37, 38). At one time, Carteret County held a strong commercial fishing network - with fish houses and processing plants all across the Core Sound (37, 41). Beaufort played a large role in supporting other commercial spaces in the county. Once this infrastructure disappeared, it impacted the viability of the industry up and down the coast (38). These cascading impacts have resulted in hardship for those working to maintain their livelihoods through commercial fishing (42). Changes that have occurred in Beaufort are reflective of what many communities across the United States are currently experiencing (43, 44, 45, 46).
The Power of Understanding Change
Pockets of the United States still have deep connections to ocean spaces and are reliant on the extraction of marine resources to sustain their local economies and identities (46, 47). However, change is inevitable, and it will continue, or perhaps even intensify, as time moves forward. It is likely that more and more of these coastal communities will experience symptoms of coastal gentrification and how communities and local governments respond to these changes matters. Of course, external changes can be extremely daunting to address, but this does not mean that these communities are limited in their ability to respond. By visualizing the multifaceted ways that coastal gentrification manifests, one is better able to understand these changes holistically rather than through the lens of just one sector, like fisheries and tourism (48, 47). The hope of this project is to help those living in coastal communities make sense of what is happening to their space.