Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut
Abstract This paper considers the degree to which the concept of ‘internal colonialism’ accurately describes the political economy of Nunavut’s commercial fisheries. Offshore fisheries adjacent to Nunavut were initially dominated by institutions based in southern Canada, and most economic benefits w...
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2022
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247421000747 2024-09-30T14:37:42+00:00 Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut Bernauer, Warren 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247421000747 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247421000747 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Polar Record volume 58 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2022 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247421000747 2024-09-04T04:04:24Z Abstract This paper considers the degree to which the concept of ‘internal colonialism’ accurately describes the political economy of Nunavut’s commercial fisheries. Offshore fisheries adjacent to Nunavut were initially dominated by institutions based in southern Canada, and most economic benefits were captured by southern jurisdictions. Decades of political struggle have resulted in Nunavut establishing a role for itself in both the management of offshore resources and the operation of the offshore fishing industry. However, key decisions about fishery management are made by the federal government, and many benefits from Nunavut’s offshore fisheries continue to accrue to southern jurisdictions. The concept of internal colonialism is therefore a useful concept for understanding the historical development and contemporary conflicts over offshore fisheries. By contrast, Nunavut’s inshore fisheries were established as community development initiatives intended to promote economic well-being and stability. While inshore fisheries primarily benefit Inuit community economies, the growth of inshore fisheries has been hampered by small profit margins, inadequate marine infrastructure, and a dearth of baseline data. The federal government’s failure to support the expansion of inshore fisheries is a manifestation of internal colonialism, insofar as it reflects an unequal distribution of public infrastructure and research. Article in Journal/Newspaper inuit Nunavut Polar Record Cambridge University Press Canada Nunavut Polar Record 58 |
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Cambridge University Press |
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English |
description |
Abstract This paper considers the degree to which the concept of ‘internal colonialism’ accurately describes the political economy of Nunavut’s commercial fisheries. Offshore fisheries adjacent to Nunavut were initially dominated by institutions based in southern Canada, and most economic benefits were captured by southern jurisdictions. Decades of political struggle have resulted in Nunavut establishing a role for itself in both the management of offshore resources and the operation of the offshore fishing industry. However, key decisions about fishery management are made by the federal government, and many benefits from Nunavut’s offshore fisheries continue to accrue to southern jurisdictions. The concept of internal colonialism is therefore a useful concept for understanding the historical development and contemporary conflicts over offshore fisheries. By contrast, Nunavut’s inshore fisheries were established as community development initiatives intended to promote economic well-being and stability. While inshore fisheries primarily benefit Inuit community economies, the growth of inshore fisheries has been hampered by small profit margins, inadequate marine infrastructure, and a dearth of baseline data. The federal government’s failure to support the expansion of inshore fisheries is a manifestation of internal colonialism, insofar as it reflects an unequal distribution of public infrastructure and research. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bernauer, Warren |
spellingShingle |
Bernauer, Warren Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut |
author_facet |
Bernauer, Warren |
author_sort |
Bernauer, Warren |
title |
Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut |
title_short |
Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut |
title_full |
Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut |
title_fullStr |
Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut |
title_full_unstemmed |
Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut |
title_sort |
commercial fishing, inuit rights, and internal colonialism in nunavut |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247421000747 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247421000747 |
geographic |
Canada Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Canada Nunavut |
genre |
inuit Nunavut Polar Record |
genre_facet |
inuit Nunavut Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 58 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247421000747 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
58 |
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1811640477805445120 |