Seascape Shadows: The Precarious Lives of Edible Bird’s Nests Harvesters in Northern Palawan, the Philippines

A Webinar to be presented by Dr. Paula Satizábal (University of Melbourne) November 18, 2020 / 10:00-11:30AM (Manila, GMT+8) Hosted by DSA-ASIA

Abstract

The intensifying extraction, marketisation, conservation and privatisation of maritime spaces and resources is transforming seascapes around the globe. Amidst rapid coastal change and the reconfiguration of oceans as frontiers are coastal dwellers who occupy the shadows of these seascapes. In contrast to the capture of high-profile marine species, the harvest of the edible nests of the balinsasayaw (swiftlet, Aerodramus fuciphagus) remains largely concealed at the interstitial spaces between land and sea. In the Philippines, harvesters known as busyador negotiate social relations, political networks and karst systems to extract these lucrative nests. Despite the nest industry growing in value in Southeast Asia, busyador struggle in precarious labour relations and spaces peripheral to marine governance.  Building on the concept of ‘seascape assemblages’, we emphasise the importance of the less visible human-nonhuman relations that shape the nest harvest…