Fisheries-dependent regions of the northern Atlantic have experienced rapid social changes in recent decades, driven partly by globalization and other large socioeconomic forces, and partly also by shifts in ocean ecology. Among the most notable social changes has been a widespread substitution of technology for labor, so that fisheries-related work tends now to support fewer people. Beset by a shrinking demand for labor, and by variations in ocean production, the population of many small fishing communities has declined and grown older. Many fishing communities have also become less fisheries dependent, and developed more diverse economies--commonly based on expansions of tourism, service and public-sector jobs. Families connected to fishing communities have diversified too, in their fishing and non-fishing activities.
This chapter looks at the changing face of fisheries dependency in the northern Atlantic. We draw on database work and individual interviews done for a broad comparative study of fishing communities across the northern Atlantic--from Norway to Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and Maine (Hamilton, Duncan and Flanders 1998a, 1998b). Despite many differences, these places share a 20th-century history of fisheries dependence, particularly on cod. Over the past decade, all of them experienced crises related to declines in cod and other economically important fish populations. As they struggle to cope with these crises, governments face the challenge of encouraging more sustainable development, within constraints imposed by rocky, cold-ocean landscapes. Individuals and families face challenges too, and strive to adapt through changes in their own choices and behavior.
We begin by examining the distribution of "fisheries dependence" itself, and how this varies across hundreds of North Atlantic communities. Next, we describe the general relationship between fisheries dependence and population decline. Finally, focusing on case-study material from several Northwest Atlantic communities, we conclude with a look at adaptation and social change from the perspectives of individual families.