Master‘s thesis Where Are All The Fish? A Political Ecology Analysis of Local Fish Networks and the Gift Economy in the Westfjords of Iceland Jennifer Grace Smith Advisor: Catherine Chambers University of Akureyri Faculty of Business and Science University Centre of the Westfjords Master of Resource Management: Coastal and Marine Management Ísafjörður, April 2014 Supervisory Committee Advisor: Catherine Chambers, Ph.D. Candidate Reader: Helga Ögmundardóttir, Ph.D. Program Director: Dagný Arnarsdóttir, MSc. Jennifer Grace Smith Where Are All The Fish? A Political Ecology Analysis of Local Fish Networks and the Gift Economy in the Westfjords of Iceland 45 ECTS thesis submitted in partial fulfillment 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 © 2014 Jennifer Grace Smith All rights reserved Printing: Háskólaprent, Reykjavík, May 2014 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 Abstract Local Food Networks (LFN) are re-emerging throughout the industrialized world as a means of counteracting negative effects of the industrialized food system and helping communities increase control over food supply. Given the importance of fisheries to Iceland’s economy and the high frequency of fish consumption among Icelanders, it is important to include fish within the larger study of LFN development in Iceland. However, outside of Iceland’s densely populated capital, there are few market channels for obtaining fresh fish caught locally. This is especially the case in many fishing communities in the Westfjords, Iceland’s most remote and sparsely populated region. This thesis aimed to determine the ways in which local networks for fish are already in existence in Westfjords fishing communities and the benefits that could result from expanded retail access to local fish. A fish consumption survey, distributed in two case study towns, was used to investigate local residents’ fish consumption habits and preferences, as well as their overall satisfaction with access to fresh fish and cultural identification with fish consumption. Results were interpreted within a political ecology framework, which was used to analyze the ways in which fisheries management policies and internationalized food distribution chains may have affected consumer-level access to local fish resources. Results indicate that preference for local fish sources and cultural linkages to fish consumption remain high among residents. Fish consumption is largely embedded within a gift economy reliant on personal connections to the fishing industry. Individuals lacking personal connections and access to the commercial outlets (i.e., specialized fish shops and supermarket fish counters) must source their fish from the large-scale structures designed for the globalized food system. It is suggested that fish gifting serves for some as a pragmatic means of circumventing these globalized structures and fisheries management regulations, which are not constructed at a scale suitable for LFN development in small communities. The role of the specialized fish shop is to fill gaps left by the weaknesses of and inequalities produced by fish gifting practices. Coastal communities benefit from the expanded access to local fish offered by such small-scale commercial outlets. Key words: Local Food Networks, fish consumption, gift society, political ecology, Iceland v Útdráttur Staðbundnir matarklasar (ens. Local food networks (LFN)) eru að koma fram að nýju hvarvetna um hinn iðnvædda heim sem leið til að vinna gegn neikvæðum áhrifum hins iðnvædda matvælakverfis og til að auka sjálfsstjórn samfélaga yfir eigin matarforða. Þessari rannsókn er ætlað að greina núverandi grenndarkerfi fyrir fisk sem eru nú þegar til staðar í Vestfirskum sjávarbyggðum og kostina sem gætu fylgt því ef verslanir hefðu aukinn aðgang að þeim fisk sem kemur að landi á svæðinu. Könnun á fiskneyslu var lögð fyrir á Patreksfirði og Ísafirði var notuð til að kanna fiskneyslu íbúa á svæðinu, sem og hvort íbúar væru almennt sáttir við aðgengi að ferskum fisk og hvort menningarleg kennsl væru til staðar gagnvart fiskneyslu. Niðurstöðurnar benda til þess að svarendur kjósi frekar staðbundinn fisk og að menningarleg tengsl við fiskneyslu séu áfram sterk meðal íbúa. Fiskneyslan fellur að stóru leyti inn í gjafakerfi sem byggir á persónulegum tengslum við fiskiðnaðinn. Einstaklinga sem skortir persónuleg tengsl og aðgengi að sérhæfðari verslunum (t.a.m. fiskverslun eða fiskborði verslana) þurfa að treysta á að nálgast fisk frá stærri aðilum sem hannaður er fyrir alþjóðlega matvælakerfið. Mögulega eru fiskgjafirnar hagnýt leið til þess að sniðganga þessi alþjóðakerfi og fiskveiðistjórnunarreglur, sem eru ekki hönnuð til að taka tillit til þróunar staðbundinna matarklasa í smærri samfélögum. Hlutverk sérhæfðra fiskverslana er að fylla í götin sem verða til vegna veikleika og ójafnvægis sem fylgir fiskgjöfunum. Sjávarbyggðir hagnast því á auknu aðgengi að fisk í gegnum slíkar smærri verslanir. vii Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................. xiii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................xv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................xvii 1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................19 1.1 An Unusual Problem ..........................................................................................19 1.2 Aims and Research Questions ...........................................................................20 1.3 Thesis Outline and Scope ...................................................................................21 1.4 Conceptual Frameworks ....................................................................................22 2 The Historical, Economic and Cultural Context for Fish Consumption in Iceland and The Westfjords Region.............................................................................................23 2.1 Current Value of Fisheries in Iceland and the Westfjords Region ................24 2.2 A Brief History of Fishing in Iceland................................................................26 2.3 Changes in Fisheries Management in Iceland..................................................29 2.3.1 Implementation of the Quota System.............................................................29 2.3.2 Monitoring and Enforcement of the Quota System........................................32 2.3.3 Environmental and Economic Benefits..........................................................33 2.3.4 Social Impacts of Icelandic Fisheries Policies ...............................................34 2.4 Dietary Importance of Fish................................................................................38 2.5 Supply of Fish in Iceland....................................................................................40 2.6 Emerging Themes ...............................................................................................42 3 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................43 3.1 Political Ecology Approach................................................................................43 3.1.1 Definitions of Political Ecology.....................................................................43 3.1.2 “The Hatchet and the Seed” ...........................................................................44 3.2 Political Ecology and Local Food ......................................................................45 3.3 Context for the Development of Alternative Food Systems............................46 3.4 Local Food Networks: Definitions and Objectives ..........................................48 3.5 Impacts of Local Food Networks.......................................................................52 3.5.1 Environmental Impacts of Local Food...........................................................52 3.5.2 Health Impacts of Local Food........................................................................53 3.5.3 Economic Impacts of Local Food ..................................................................54 3.5.4 Social Impacts of Local Food: Connection, Community, and Identity..........55 3.6 Issues of Power in Local Food Networks..........................................................56 3.7 Practical Challenges to Local Food System Development ..............................58 3.8 Alternative Food Network Development in Iceland ........................................59 3.9 General Literature on Alternative Networks for Fish Distribution...............61 4 Methodology...............................................................................................................63 4.1 Overview..............................................................................................................63 4.2 Choice of Case Study Towns..............................................................................63 4.3 Survey Questionnaire