| Summary: | Læst til 31.12.2015 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 ...
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