Family gatherings and reunions, children's birthday parties, wedding celebrations, Christmas dinners, even courting rituals are centered on them. Families return to the same spots year after year. It's like their home. The beaches also provide a degree of economic security for Viequenses. Elderly couples fish, both to feed themselves and to swap for a few extra dollars.
Some families gather coconuts to sell in the markets, or from the side of the road.
An old man might clean shells to sell to crafts shops. Living in Vieques isn't easy for anyone. We lack many of the basic amenities accepted as givens on the big island of Puerto Rico, or in the States. Now all of that has been replaced by ill will, dissention, and an extremely negative publicity that is seriously affecting the economic well being of the island. Until the military closed the beaches, the majority of Viequenses did not object to the military presence on the island.