Fishing for Common Ground: Broadening the Definition of ‘Rights-Based’ Fisheries Management in Iceland’S Westfjords
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Master‘s Thesis Fishing For Common Ground: Broadening the Definition of ‘Rights-based’ Fisheries Management in Iceland’s Westfjords Katie Auth Advisor: Níels Einarsson, Ph.D. University of Akureyri Faculty of Business and Science University Centre of the Westfjords Master of Resource Management: Coastal and Marine Management Ísafjörður, May 2012 2 Supervisory Committee Advisor: Níels Einarsson, Ph.D., Director of the Stefansson Arctic Institute Reader: Gísli Pálsson, Ph. D., Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iceland Program Director: Dagný Arnarsdóttir, MSc. Katie Auth Fishing For Common Ground: Broadening the Definition of ‘Rights-based’ Fisheries Management in Iceland’s Westfjords 45 ECTS thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of a Master of Resource Management degree in Coastal and Marine Management at the University Centre of the Westfjords, Suðurgata 12, 400 Ísafjörður, Iceland Degree accredited by the University of Akureyri, Faculty of Business and Science, Borgir, 600 Akureyri, Iceland Copyright © 2012 Katie Auth All rights reserved Printing: Háskólaprent, Reykjavík, June 2012 3 Declaration I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of this thesis and it is a product of my own academic research. __________________________________________ Student‘s name 4 Abstract Since the 1980s, so-called “rights-based” fisheries management regimes – specifically those designed to apply market forces to problems of inefficiency and overfishing by divvying up fixed, tradable proportions of a total allowable catch among individuals or cooperatives – have become both one of the most widely advocated and most contentious aspects of marine resource management. Iceland, promoted by some as a successful international model of this approach, has been the site – for nearly thirty years – of fierce debate and controversy regarding the system’s effects on regional development, social justice and wealth disparity. This thesis uses a phenomenological approach, a set of ten semi-structured interviews, and document analysis to explore how inhabitants of the Icelandic Westfjords understand and articulate their ‘rights’ in the context of fisheries management, particularly in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Respondents discuss a range of perceived ‘rights’ not usually considered in management design, most notably the right to ‘fate-control’. Discussions of rights-based management in the Westfjords reflect deeper concerns regarding identity, fear of change, democratic values and a sense of personal agency. 5 For the ‘fishing communities’ I love – in Maine, Senegal and the Westfjords 6 Foreword When I first arrived in the Westfjords in September of 2011, I had no idea what the next ten months would bring. I arrived in Ísafjörður jet lagged and slightly nervous - awed by both the landscape and the Icelandic language, which seemed to consist of guttural sounds and vowels I had never heard before. I knew no one. And yet I felt immediately at home. The Westfjords’ jagged coastline (although backed by mountains) reminded me of the coast of Maine, where I had spent most of the last six years. The fishing boats docked in the harbor, the smell of salt and fish – it all reminded me of towns I had known and loved. As the months went by, I became fascinated by the Icelandic ITQ system, and by the way such a seemingly obscure and mind-numbing topic could simmer so relentlessly beneath the surface of society for three decades. Later that year, I learned that New England had decided to institute a similar system for its groundfisheries – prompting expressions of distrust, fear and hope in small Maine communities that echoed what I had heard in the Westfjords; yet another thing shared by two very different places, both of which I had grown to love. Immediately, I knew I wanted to study perceptions of the ITQ system in the Westfjords so that I could better understand New England as it began its transition to rights-based management. I hope that fishing communities in both places can continue to thrive for many years to come. 7 Table of Contents Foreword ...............................................................................................................................7 List of Figures .....................................................................................................................11 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................13 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................14 1.1 Introduction to ‘rights-based management’ ............................................................14 1.2 Rights-based fisheries management in Iceland: An ongoing saga .........................15 1.3 Research questions .................................................................................................16 1.4 Purpose of thesis .....................................................................................................17 1.4.1 Contribute to filling a ‘cartographic silence’ ............................................... 17 1.4.2 Contribute to understanding a ‘particularly wicked’ problem ..................... 18 1.4.3 Highlight the agency of individuals and communities ................................ 19 1.5 Structure and contents ............................................................................................20 2 Methods ..........................................................................................................................22 2.1 Phenomenology ......................................................................................................22 2.2 Defining ‘Fishing Communities’ ............................................................................23 2.3 Selecting Respondent Pool .....................................................................................26 2.3.1 Defining ‘stakeholder’ ................................................................................. 26 2.3.2 Limitations ................................................................................................... 27 2.3.3 List of Respondents ..................................................................................... 28 2.4 Conducting interviews ............................................................................................29 2.4.1 Limitations ................................................................................................... 30 2.5 Transcription & analysis .........................................................................................31 2.5.1 Transcription ................................................................................................ 31 2.5.2 Analysis ....................................................................................................... 31 2.5.3 Limitations ................................................................................................... 31 3 Overview of rights-based fisheries management ........................................................33 3.1 Historical development ...........................................................................................33 3.1.1 Fisheries: A ‘commons’? ............................................................................. 33 3.1.2 The ‘commons’ as tragedy ........................................................................... 34 3.2 Theory and rationale ...............................................................................................35 3.2.1 Rights-based management and neoliberal economic theory........................ 35 3.2.2 Theoretical economic benefits ..................................................................... 36 3.2.3 Theoretical benefits for the conservation of fish stocks .............................. 37 3.3 Perceived inevitability ............................................................................................37 4 Icelandic fisheries & fishing communities ...................................................................39 4.1 Introduction to Icelandic fisheries ..........................................................................39 4.1.1 Ecology ........................................................................................................ 39 4.1.2 Economic importance .................................................................................. 41 4.2 Fisheries management & fishing communities in the Westfjords ..........................42 8 4.2.1 Early limitations: Settlement – 18th century ............................................... 42 4.2.2 New opportunities & coastal settlement: 19th century ................................ 42 4.2.3 Expansion & modernization: 20th century .................................................. 43 4.2.4 Assertion of sovereign control ..................................................................... 44 4.3 A new approach to fisheries management ..............................................................45 4.3.1 Effort restrictions: 1977-83 .......................................................................... 45 4.3.2 Vessel catch quotas: 1983-90 ...................................................................... 45 4.3.3 Comprehensive ITQ system: 1990 – 2012 .................................................. 46 4.4 The ITQ system and the Icelandic financial sector ................................................46 4.5 Controversy over the Icelandic ITQ system ...........................................................47