"There are also cultural differences with how people approach natural resources," lead researcher and Mississippi State University's Human Dimensions professor Kevin Hunt says of his study. "White people have this individualistic culture that's so different from African Americans. Black fishermen often make decisions based on what's going to help the group. African American fishers kept more of their catch, they would keep different species, things like that."
The data, however, is both complicated and limited. During his career, Hunt has largely focused on recreational fishing, the entry point for most fishermen. He and other researchers have found sparse opportunities to study race in commercial fishing, including producing data that examines just how many recreational, competitive and commercial Black fishers exist, in large part because of limited funding opportunities from organizations that don't value examining demographic trends.