Fisheries Privatization and the Remaking of Fishery Systems

Scholars and fishermen alike view the privatization of fishing rights as a fundamental driver of change in fishing livelihoods and communities. Expanding upon ethnographic research conducted in rural fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska, this project explores the social and cultural shifts linked to the privatization of fishing rights in the diverse fishing community of Kodiak, Alaska. This study has three primary objectives: 1) to understand how the privatization of fishing rights has been experienced across diverse human groups that participate in fishery systems, 2) to explore the relative importance and magnitude of the impacts of fisheries privatization compared with other ecological, economic, and technological drivers of change, and 3) to assess the relationship between the social and cultural shifts linked to fishery privatization and individual and community well-being. This ethnographic study, employing mixed methods of interviews, surveys, participant observation and archival research, will provide rich qualitative and systematic quantitative data to assess how regulatory and related changes affect the social and cultural dimensions of fishery systems and fishing communities. The research framework joins scholarship in political ecology, social-ecological systems, and the anthropology of fishing communities to provide key analytical insights into the relationship between the enclosure of resources and changing nature-society relationships. The research findings will have broad applicability to understanding transitions in fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and throughout the Circumpolar North. This study also informs resource policy development. As fishery economists, managers, environmental groups, and popular media sources increasingly advocate for the widespread privatization of marine resources, the social and cultural implications of these transitions need to be explored and documented. The results of this study will have practical application in understanding how to develop new adaptive models of institutional and ecological management that will provide for the resilience of fishing-dependent communities. Shifts to ecosystem-based marine governance call for increased attention to the ways in which individual and community health and well-being and general concerns of social justice are addressed in policy development. The research will provide insights on how the diversity of livelihoods and values can be better accounted for in resource management policy in the arctic, sub-arctic and beyond.

学界与渔民均认为，捕捞权私有化是驱动渔业生计与渔村社群变迁的核心动因。本项目基于阿拉斯加湾乡村渔村的民族志研究，聚焦阿拉斯加科迪亚克岛的多元渔业社群，对与捕捞权私有化相关的社会与文化变迁展开探索。本研究包含三项核心目标：其一，厘清参与渔业系统的多元人群对捕捞权私有化的感知与体验；其二，相较于生态、经济与技术等其他变革驱动因素，探究渔业私有化所产生影响的相对重要性与强度；其三，评估与渔业私有化相关的社会文化变迁以及个体与社群福祉之间的关联。本民族志研究采用访谈、问卷调查、参与式观察与档案研究等混合研究方法，将产出丰富的质性数据与系统化的量化数据，用以评估规制变革及相关调整如何作用于渔业系统与渔村社群的社会文化维度。本研究框架整合政治生态学、社会-生态系统以及渔村人类学的相关研究成果，旨在为资源圈占与自然-社会关系变迁之间的关联提供关键分析视角。研究结果可广泛应用于理解阿拉斯加湾、白令海乃至整个环北极地区的渔村转型进程。本研究同时可为资源政策制定提供参考。当前，渔业经济学家、管理者、环保组织与主流媒体日益呼吁大规模推广海洋资源私有化，因此亟需探究并记录此类转型带来的社会文化影响。本研究成果可用于指导如何构建兼具适应性的制度与生态管理新模式，从而保障依赖渔业的社群的韧性发展。向基于生态系统的海洋治理转型，要求进一步关注如何将个体与社群健康福祉、社会公平的核心关切纳入政策制定流程。本研究将为如何在北极、亚北极及更广范围的资源管理政策中更好地兼顾生计与价值多样性提供参考思路。