The development of Shetland's pelagic fishing industry : 1945-2000

This thesis is a case study in the transformation of a fishing industry on the North Atlantic fringe between 1945 and 2000. Fishing industries worldwide underwent fundamental and wide-ranging changes during this post-war period. For the fishing industries of the North Atlantic, the 1970s were a time...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gear, Robert William
Other Authors: Starkey, David J. (David John), 1954, Robinson, Robb
Format: Thesis
Language:unknown
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/file/4218194/1/Thesis
https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4218194
Description
Summary:This thesis is a case study in the transformation of a fishing industry on the North Atlantic fringe between 1945 and 2000. Fishing industries worldwide underwent fundamental and wide-ranging changes during this post-war period. For the fishing industries of the North Atlantic, the 1970s were a time of particularly profound crisis and change. Three interlinked revolutions were at their height: the second industrialisation of fisheries, the territorialisation of the seas and the imposition of multifarious fisheries management measures. These combined to mean that access to marine resources were seriously curtailed. Many fishing industries on the North Atlantic rim suffered and some never recovered. In contrast the Shetland pelagic fishing industry emerged from the crisis period having experienced a particularly dramatic and positive transformation. Part 1 (chapters 2 and 3) detail these changes in the catching and processing sectors. Part 2 analyses the forces which drove this development. It is demonstrated that these changes in the pelagic industry in Shetland were driven by three primary factors. In chapter 4, environmental and sociological drivers are examined together under a holistic framework known as the ‘maritime cultural landscape.’ It is shown that Shetland’s environmental context - as an isolated relatively barren island in the North Atlantic surrounded by fecund seas - has made the exploitation of marine resources both practical and necessary. Further, it describes how the historic socio-culture of the archipelago has been shaped by fishing, and in the post-war period how this was especially manifest in some of the outlying islands. Chapter 5 analyses the impact that market forces (demand) and technological drivers (supply) had on the development of the industry. It shows that consistent demand from Continental Europe has been the industry’s backbone but that increasing globalisation opened up new markets to the local processors. The chapter also argues that new catching methods increased ...