The Development of Fisheries in Greenland, with Focus on Paamiut/Frederikshab and Sisimiut/Holsteinsborg. Rasmus Ole Rasumussen and Lawrence C. Hamilton, 2001.

Roskilde, Denmark: North Atlantic Regional Studies

ABSTRACT

The West Greenland municipalities of Paamiut and Sisimiut have both experienced development of their commercial fisheries in recent decades, with quite different outcomes. Paamiut/Frederiskshab was built up as center for fishing Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) during the years when that resource appeared plentiful along the southwest coast. Overfishing and cooler waters caused cod to decline in the 1980s, and then to collapse completely in the early 1990s, leaving Paamiut without its main livelihood as development was locked in on a specific path. While the cod fishery was expanding, Paamiut's human population grew too. As the cod decline became evident in the mid-1980s, Paamiut's human population began declining as well--by approximately 15%, from 1984 to 1996. Sisimiut/Holsteinsborg, on the other hand, was too far north to have benefitted as much from cod fishing, but exploited a more diverse set of resources, and proved better positioned for shrimping. As shrimp (Pandalus borealis) abundance and landings increased, Sisimiut itself grew (23% over 1984-96) to become the second-largest municipality in Greenland. Political decisions and social factors played a role in the ways that Sisimiut and Paamiut developed in their arctic environments, and were able to adapt as these environments changed. In this report we examine the background of linked environmental and social changes that took place during the modern development of fisheries in Greenland as a whole, and particularly in the contrasting southwestern municipalities of Paamiut and Sisimiut.

DATASETS

Description of original data sources for DOFG. {text file}

DOFGage: Age/sex composition of the Greenland population, 1965 and 1998. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGecon: Economic activities (%) in Greenland settlements. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGemp: Greenland employed persons by sector. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGexp: Greenland fish products exports 1970-1997. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGfish: Greenland waters fish catches 1911-1998. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGfle1: Greenland fishing fleet. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGfle2: Paamiut & Sisimiut fleet structures. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGinv: Greenland public investments in fishing fleet. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGland: Paamiut & Sisimiut fisheries landings. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGmig: Greenland migration. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGpop1: Greenland population 1781-1996. {text file} {Stata file}

DOFGpop2: Greenland population 1968-1998. {text file} {Stata file}

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