Transmissions of Knowledge in Cornish Fishing Villages
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LIVELIHOODS, CRAFT AND HERITAGE: Transmissions of Knowledge in Cornish Fishing Villages Tim Martindale Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology of Goldsmiths, University of London, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, October 2012. Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of Goldsmiths, University of London, is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. 2 Abstract In response to a sense of ‘crisis’ in global fisheries, contemporary policies and social science accounts have tended to approach fishery ‘problems’ in terms of models derived from biology and resource-economics. Through a study of the fishing industry in Cornwall, UK, this thesis contributes an alternative perspective – examining how knowledges and meanings attached to the work of fishing are reproduced in the context of wider social relations and economies. Processes of European rural re-structuring, increasing costs and restricted access, have recently exacerbated more long-term trends of decline in Cornish fisheries. However social change and new media for knowledge transmission also contribute to the remaking and reinvention of fishing livelihoods and ideologies. The study is based on a historical ethnographic methodology which included archival research, participant observation, unstructured interviews and life-histories. From the late nineteenth century the marginalisation of Cornwall’s fishing and maritime economy accompanied the ‘discovery’ and idealisation of Cornish fishing villages through art and tourism. Social distance and inequality in fishing villages grew but so also did new forms of co-dependency. More recently conflict has emerged around the politics of the environment, and fishers’ knowledges point to the unpredictability of fishing ecologies and economies, suggesting the potential for alternative management models. Narratives about skill, craft and expertise play a role in how some producers in Cornwall reproduce themselves as independent fishermen and reflect a concern that such skills and dispositions are passed on to future generations. Others have diversified into forms of art and craft production – activities which shape memory and sense of place whilst replicating notions of self- sufficiency. I argue for the potential constructiveness of forms of heritage practice which can be both a source of critical nostalgia and an imaginative approach to the past as a resource for the regeneration of regional maritime economies. Whilst meanings and ideologies attached to the work of fishing in Cornwall may serve as markers of loss or of conflicts around knowledge production, or may mask systemic inequalities, they can also be a source of innovation, reward and creativity. 3 Acknowledgements This research was made possible by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Studentship Award. I was also assisted in the final stage of completion by the Firth Fund, a small grant award jointly funded by the Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA) and the Royal Institution of Anthropology (RAI). Thank you to all those people that took part in the research and were so generous with their time and knowledge – particularly Jonathan Fletcher, Glyn Richards, Robin Turner, Keith Dickson, Tony Pawlyn, Elizabeth and William Stevenson, Rev. Julyan Drew, John Lambourn, Chris Morley, David Warwick and Valhalla first-mate Jack, David Stevens, David Stevens (Junior), Nigel Legge, Martin Ellis, Donald Turtle, Robert George, Stefan Glinski, Peter Pearman and Mike and Paul Collier. Thank you also to those individuals and institutions that have given permission for the reproduction of images or assisted in other ways with advice and information. All photographs used in the thesis are the author’s own unless credit is otherwise given. The thesis has benefited from the input of colleagues in the writing-up seminar in the Anthropology Department at Goldsmiths, and I’d particularly like to thank Kim Baker for her amazing help with proofreading in the final weeks. Thanks are also extended to all the departmental staff who have supported and encouraged me in my journey from an undergraduate to completion of a doctorate – especially administrative staff, Hugh and Rebecca, and academic staff, Victoria Goddard, Sophie Day, Catherine Alexander, Jean Besson, Mark Lamont, Emma Tarlo, Casey High, Alpa Shah, Jo Cook, Nici Nelson and Brian Morris. Supervisors Rebecca Cassidy and Mao Mollona provided brilliant critical insight and inspiration at the beginning and end of the PhD respectively. Most of all I would like to thank my supervisor Frances Pine, for being so patient and supportive throughout, and for always gently bringing me back to the important issues. I could not have completed this thesis without the support of my family – Mum, Dad and sister Joy. Finally I would like to thank my partner Grace, for always believing in me. 4 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. 4 Table of Figures ................................................................................................... 7 List of abbreviations ........................................................................................... 14 Foreword ............................................................................................................ 15 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 17 Research site ....................................................................................................... 23 Methodologies .................................................................................................... 30 Structure of the thesis ......................................................................................... 40 2 ANTHROPOLOGIES OF FISHING AND RURAL SOCIAL CHANGE .......................... 48 Concepts of ‘fishing community’ ....................................................................... 48 Class, industry and heritage ............................................................................... 58 Place, knowledge and practice ........................................................................... 66 3 FISHING AND CORNWALL’S MARITIME ECONOMY IN ‘LA LONG DURÉE’ ................................................................................................................................... 69 History and anthropology ................................................................................... 71 The presence of the past ..................................................................................... 73 Fishing and Cornwall’s medieval maritime economy ....................................... 75 Cornish fishing and early industrialisation ........................................................ 79 The emergence of a Cornish fishing village ...................................................... 85 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 96 4 THE ARCHITECTURE OF FISHING: HARBOURS, BOATS AND INSITUTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 113 Luggers ............................................................................................................. 119 Contemporary Newlyn ..................................................................................... 130 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 143 5 5 MEASURING MEN AND MANAGING FISH ................................................................ 159 Fisheries science and management .................................................................. 163 The trial ............................................................................................................ 172 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 178 6 WORKING THE ‘WESTERN APPROACHES’ ............................................................... 181 ‘They’re dictating to me what I can catch... I might as well go and drive a bus’ .............................................................................................................................. 182 Fish in the Western Approaches: ‘they all live together here’ ......................... 184 ‘We don’t need to tell lies. The bigger boats do’ ............................................. 190 ‘They weren’t caught, they changed their ways’ ............................................. 193 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 195 7 FISHING LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS ........................................................................... 199 Learning,