Getting into Fishing: Recruitment and Social Resilience in North Norfolk's ‘Cromer Crab’ Fishery, UK

Abstract

The intergenerational continuity of fishing communities is a growing concern for the sustainability of small-scale fisheries around Europe. This is exemplified through the case of an English crab fishery where young people are being encouraged into fishing through funded training programmes with limited success. Opportunities for work have declined, most notably through a reduction in crew size to save costs. Interviews with fishermen of different ages are explored using access theory to elucidate how the social reproduction of fishing has changed. This shows how the agency of young aspiring fishermen is increasingly constrained by regulatory and financial factors. Improved social and spatial mobility among fishing families mean that recruitment into the fishery through a father-to-son pathway is increasingly uncommon. Youngsters from non-fishing families face additional financial and relational barriers. Funded courses cannot, on their own, provide a solution. A holistic approach to rural coastal development is required to build social resilience in fishing communities across Europe faced with similar problems.

Gone fishing? Intergenerational cultural shifts can undermine common property co-managed fisheries

“…Where socio-cultural changes and variables have previously been shown to be powerful forces in shaping the participation of individuals in the fishing industry (e.g., [14][15][16], the Chilean case highlights that similar dynamics may exist in a rapidly developing context with an established common property regime. The findings of this study also serve to warn that once established, ongoing success is not guaranteed.…”

“…The effects of socio-cultural change on the persistence of small-scale fishing communities and systems have been documented worldwide, most notably in the lack of recruitment of new fishers. For example, in North Norfolk in the United Kingdom, downsizing in fishing crews, increasing start-up and operational costs, and changing professional aspirations among youth and among existing fishers for their children were identified as reasons why recruitment has become difficult [14]. As Johnsen and Vik [15] note, factors both within the fishing industry and outside of fishing can act independently or interactively to affect whether a person enters or stays in the industry.…”

“…While shifts away from the fishing profession are being addressed in parts of the world -for instance, via initiatives to enhance transferrable skills in the fishing sector in France to decrease the perception that fishing is a professional "dead-end" [19] -such efforts are piecemeal and can be of limited success if they do not address underlying causes [14]. In addition, a common thread in the academic literature is that socio-economic factors that lead to the diversification of livelihoods or transitions away from primary resource extraction are generally positive for resource sustainability [8,22].…”

“…Smallscale fishers in Chile are adapting and responding to socio-cultural change in ways similar to those documented elsewhere [21], such as through income diversification towards construction and tourism. Attitudes and behaviours among fishers also appear to have shifted with development in Chile, favouring education, professions of higher status and greater economic security, and reduced pressure on younger generations to fish, mirroring changes in developed country fishing contexts (e.g., [14][15][16].…”

“…In the latter countries, failure to recruit new entrants in small-scale fisheries have been attributed, instead, to fewer fishing opportunities due to downsizing [14], loss of access to fishing boats, increased licensing fees and fishing efficiency, greater regulatory requirements, and professionalization of fishing [15]. These themes did not emerge strongly as reasons Chilean fishers wanted their children out of fishing.…”