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Whose bay is it anyway? (67)

Summer reflections

There is something very pure and relaxing about summer holidays. I am not sure if it is the heat that forces you to take it easy and be in awe of life or the sea itself with its equally captivating character. What I am sure of is that summer holidays create the perfect conditions to reflect and observe! On my summer vacations this time at a Southern European seaside resort, my attention was focused on the locals themselves and I quickly noticed a growing issue. Locals were hotly debating the yacht culture developing in their village that were concerned that it might actually limit their ease of access to their lovely bay.

My freedom ends where yours begins

I find this is a really tantalizing question of freedom. Imagine you are a yacht owner: part of the appeal is that you are free to go wherever you like. If you see a nice sea-side location with a bay and a beach, why should you be limited from going there? This is probably the reason you bought a yacht in the first place.

But then again, if there are too many yachts, the people who actually live there will have a deteriorated quality of life. And let's make that more specific: imagine whenever you wake up from your afternoon siesta and look outside: instead of the usual picturesque bay, you see an armada of yachts. Yachts with annoying people that also make too much noise, throw their waste at the water and limit your and your kids accessibility to the beach.

Anchoring the problem: who pays, who gains?

It soon became obvious to all, including the local authorities, that the problem has to be somehow managed. An easy solution was found in making the boat owners pay a fee to enter the bay's marina.

And why exactly should they pay? Well, for starters somebody has to be paid to cleanup the disposed waste. Adding to that, mooring to the marina is always associated with some services such as power and fresh water, and thus it feels fair to give some money to receive something in return.

But what about the non-marina areas of the bay? The local authorities installed buoys to indicate where the beach ends and where the yachts are welcome. This seemingly fair solution favoured the yacht owners, who constantly parked as close as possible to the limit. The locals instead felt like losing access to their own beach and the municipal authorities not being on their side. There was a developing sense that maximizing visitors is important to please the souvenir and shop owners.

Shared seas, shared duties

It turns out, even very mundane activities can hide lots of complexity and power dynamics. Ultimately, it is very important to actually listen to the problems of any locals. Having a system where a rich external entity can dictate terms leads to a world where everybody loses. Somebody will always be richer than you and that somebody might decide to use shared resources like a beautiful beach and a marine ecosystem irrationally. It is in the interest of all, even the rich visitors I argue, to wisely use our resources and thus preserve an area they and their children would like to visit in the future.


 

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