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Article Excerpt
Introduction
Most coastal fishing communities are geographically isolated and have long-established dependence on the sea for livelihood. These conditions foster a strong sense of self-reliance, community identity, and visceral attachment to fishing as more than just an occupation, but as a 'way of life' (Smith 1977; Acheson 1981; Wilbur and Harvey 1992). Not surprisingly, the forces of modernization--industrial capitalism, technical specialization, penetration of global markets, etc.--are often met with skepticism, if not outright opposition, by residents of coastal communities. (1)
The widespread development of industrial aquaculture has brought substantial socioeconomic and environmental changes to many coastal communities (Weeks 1992; Bailey et al. 1996). Yet, remarkably little research has sought to understand in what ways the introduction of this quintessentially modern industry might impact existing fishing practices and wider, coastal community interests. Aquaculture can generate economic opportunities that complement existing resource uses and values (Bernal et al. 1999; Perez-Sanchez and Muir 2003; Buck et al. 2004). Adverse impacts have also been documented, including marine pollution, social conflict and displacement of existing resource users (Stephenson 1990; Weeks 1992; Primavera 1993; Millar and Aiken 1995; Anutha and Johnson 1996; DeWalt et al. 1996; Aarset 1998; Naylor et al. 1998; Walters 2003).
In particular, social science research has revealed complex patterns of marine space utilization by traditional fishermen (Acheson 1981; McCay and Acheson 1987a). Nearshore fisheries are often characterized by fidelity to specific areas wherein fishing access is restricted to certain individuals or groups (Christy 1982; Davis 1984; Acheson 1988; Dahi 1988; Cordell 1989; Bailey and Zerner 1992; Recchia 1997; Wagner and Davis 2004). The use of fishing grounds year-after-year and even over generations can lead to the development of in-depth knowledge of local fishing conditions and, in some cases, a high degree of economic dependence on these areas (Johannes 1981). In this regard, the de facto privatization of ocean space that occurs with the introduction of large-scale marine aquaculture may be highly disruptive of customary fishing practices.
Salmon aquaculture is among the fastest growing and now largest industries in New Brunswick (Mandale et al. 2000). From their initial appearance in the late 1970s, farm sites have multiplied in number and expanded in size, and are now commonplace along the southwest coast of New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy. Salmon aquaculture has generated considerable employment and economic prosperity in New Brunswick coastal communities that might otherwise be in decline. Nonetheless, the industry's rapid expansion has generated controversy in many of these same communities (Stephenson 1990; Millar and Aiken 1995; Dwire 1996; Phyne 1996; Marshall 2001). In particular, new salmon farm sites often compete for space with traditional fishing of lobster, herring and scallop. Furthermore, chemical treatments for salmon diseases are thought by some to pose a risk to the health and quality of harvested benthic invertebrates, such as lobster (Milewski et al. 1997; Haya et al. 2001; Waddy et al. 2002).
This article reports findings from an ethnographic study of the interactions between recently introduced salmon farms and traditional lobster fishing around Grand Manan and Deer Islands in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick (Figure 1). The research is guided by the following general questions: What perceptions and concerns do lobster fishermen and salmon farms have regarding their respective industries? How has the development of salmon farms affected lobster fishing practices and, in particular, the use of marine space?
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Modernization, Community and Common Property Fisheries
The social science literature on coastal fisheries and fishing communities is diverse, but broadly indicative of two general perspectives or paradigms: one neo-liberal and economic in focus and the other social or community-centred (Charles 1992; Jentoft and Davis 1993; Apostle et al. 1998; McCay and Jentoft 1998; Wilson and Jentoft 1999; Wiber 2000; McCay 2002; Mansfield 2004a; St. Martin 2006). (2) Most economists approach issues of fisheries management and coastal community development from a neo-liberal economic perspective that makes individual agency, economic efficiency and privatization of fishing rights central to understanding and resolving the challenges facing coastal fishing communities (Wiber 2000; Mansfield 2004b). This perspective views fishermen as rational, self-interested actors whose primary motivation is individual utility maximization within a competitive market context. Marine resources such as fish are difficult to manage because secure property rights over them cannot be readily established and, lacking such rights, resource users have little incentive to limit their harvest, especially given that other fishermen are competing to catch the same fish. This dilemma makes over-exploitation of marine resources inevitable, that is, a 'tragedy of the commons' (Gordon 1954; Hardin 1968) or, more properly, of open access resources.
By contrast, anthropologists or sociologists are more likely to emphasize social-structural or cultural aspects of the human condition and how this bears upon the identity, social relations and practices of fishermen and wider members of the community; what I will refer to hereafter as the 'community-centred' perspective (McCay and Acheson 1987b; McCay and Jentoft 1998; Newell and Ommer 1999; Wiber 2000; Grafton 2005; St. Martin 2006). This paradigm views the actions of fishermen as not solely economic in nature, but guided also by norms and values that reflect their 'embeddedness' in particular cultural and historical contexts and within networks of wider social relations in the community (McCay and Jentoft 1998; Wilson and Jentoft 1999; cf, Polanyi 1944; Granovetter and Swedberg 1992). The relevance of this paradigm to marine natural resource management is best illustrated by research in the now thriving field of common property resource (CPR) studies, which has demonstrated both theoretically and through numerous empirical case studies, the potential for resource management practices to emerge and be sustained at the local, community level (McCay and Acheson 1987a; Acheson 1988; Berkes 1989; Cordell 1989; Pinkerton 1989; Feeny et al. 1990; Ostrom 1990; Singleton and Taylor 1992; Ostrom et al. 2001; St. Martin 2001; Walters 2004).
In many respects, the neo-liberal economic paradigm has become ascendant in mainstream Canadian fisheries policy over the last 30 years, as the federal government has sought to restrict entry to the fishery and, at the same time, encouraged capital investment, technological modernization and other strategies (training, etc.) intended to 'professionalize' those fishers who remain (Davis 1991; Apostle et al. 1998, 2002b). Yet, recently aspects of the community-centred paradigm have also become acknowledged and (selectively) employed by the federal government in various settings, including in scientist-fisher collaborations in fishery knowledge generation; multi-stakeholder consultation processes in policy making; fishery co-management experiments; and Aboriginal self-government initiatives (Apostle et al. 1998; Newell and Ommer 1999; Neis and Felt 2000).
The promotion of intensive aquaculture, including salmon farming, sits comfortably within a neo-liberal fisheries strategy as it is based on the private enclosure and micro-managed control of specific areas of the marine commons, and generates significant and concentrated returns from large capital and technological investments (Marshall 2001). It could be argued that aquaculture is the ultimate realization of the neoliberal ideal as applied to coastal fisheries management in that it could, in principle, eventually eliminate altogether the need for the (inefficient, ungovernable and inevitably tragic) wild-caught fishery. (3)
There has been considerable social upheaval and local opposition to the development of industrial aquaculture in sites around the world where it has been introduced, including Canada (Bailey 1988; Stephenson 1990; Millar and Aiken 1995; Dwire 1996; Phyne 1996; Stonich and Bailey 2000; Walters 2003). Viewed from the community-centred perspective, local opposition to aquaculture comes as no surprise given its potential to compete directly for space with traditional fishing. But there may be more to the opposition than just competition for space. Compared to traditional fisheries, aquaculture operations typically involve more bureaucratic and hierarchical systems of labor organization and are more likely to be owned by outsiders to the community. In this respect, the introduction of aquaculture may, for better or worse, significantly alter existing social and economic relations in the wider community. For example, regarding the development of salmon farms on Grand Manan Island, Marshall (2001, 350) paints a grim picture, suggesting that, 'The introduction of new productive relations that are directed from outside the community, and the alienation of the very marine spaces that have sustained the community over generations, together threaten to, at the very least, completely transform all social relations' (italics mine). She further adds that,
Increasing privatization of the marine commons is fundamentally a disenfranchisement of all traditional fishers, effectively precluding sustainable livelihoods within the wild fishery. The loss of local control threatens to transform the communities into "competitive, atomized, and dependent entities" (Marshall 2001, 350).
This statement gets to the heart of the community-centred paradigm; namely, that processes of neo-liberal privatization and economic development bring with them fundamental changes not only to pre-existing patterns of marine resource access and control, but also to core social relations within the community (St. Martin 2006). But, as some authors have noted and the findings from this study show, the gap between the neo-liberal economic and community-centred paradigm is not as wide as is often portrayed (McCay and Jentoft 1998; Mansfield 2004a, b). Thus both perspectives acknowledge that secure property rights--vested either in the individual or in the community--are usually critical for effective marine resource management. Both also appear to recognize the resourceful, self-reliant and competitive nature that characterizes most fishermen (Smith 1977; Acheson 1981; Jentoft and Davis 1993; McCay 1999; St. Martin 2001; Mansfield 2004b; but see also Davis 1991). In short, coastal communities are often culturally rich in tradition and socially complex, but this does not necessarily make them unduly vulnerable or inevitably opposed to the processes of neo-liberal economic rationalization.
Lobster Fishing in Southwest New Brunswick
The southwest corner of New Brunswick along the Bay of Fundy has long depended on marine resources, including significant fisheries for herring, groundfish (cod, pollock, haddock), anadromous fish (salmon, gaspereau, alewife), invertebrates (lobster, scallop, crab, clams, urchin) and seaweeds (dulce, rockweed) (Lotze and Milewski 2002). Lobster is the most widely and intensively fished species in the region. Since its development as a significant industry in the mid- to late 1800s, lobster fishing has been one of the economic mainstays of dozens of coastal mainland and island communities. Fishermen in the region are traditionally occupational pluralists: shifting fishing effort to and from lobster to groundfish and other species, depending on the season and the relative abundance and market value of different species. Lobster fishing is attractive because it often fetches good market prices, although this was not always the case (Ingersoll 1970). Also, the relatively simple technology required for lobster fishing has meant that fishermen could fall back on lobster in hard times.
Lobsters are fished from relatively small, agile boats that enable the precise setting of traps on the ocean bottom, on rocky substrate in relatively shallow waters, preferably close to port. Fishermen typically employ two trapping strategies. In shallow waters where setting is precise and retrieval relatively easy, traps are set in sequence (a 'line') individually or in pairs with each buoyed to the surface. In deeper waters, because of the difficulty in retrieving traps, fishermen typically deploy 'trawls', sets of three to twenty-five traps that are spaced apart but joined together by rope, with buoys floating at each end of the trap line.
Lobster fishing is regulated by season, trap limits per licence and minimum size of landed lobster. The total number of licenses is capped, limiting new...
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