Contested Commoning: Urban Fishing Spaces and Community Wellbeing

This paper analyzes how the more-than-human elements and relationships of urban fishing—piers, bridges, fish, social interactions—constitute spaces that offer possibility affecting community wellbeing. In particular, it applies theories commoning to questions fishing might affect material dimensions The argues approaching ideas wellbeing from a perspective enables deeper analysis ‘messiness’ contradictions can arise in accounting for complex socio-natural interactions examines these via case study Tampa Bay region Florida. Employing survey, interview, field research, asks support processes could lead increases wellbeing, while also highlighting where disruptions ecological, physical, or involved decrease finds evidence increase concrete ways (e.g., by contributing collective food security, knowledge-sharing, exposure economic racial diversity, shared experiences), but infrastructures are simultaneously precarious subject strife, changes legality, ecological contamination which suggests particularly geographies adopting lens is useful better parsing challenges intertwined, possibilities exist addressing challenges. contributes theoretical discussions about characteristics commoning, links between socionatural shifting understandings space care.