Fishing for a sense of cultural identity and place

Abstract

A strong sense of identity and place attachment has always been a characteristic of fishing families. Originally from a fishing family I identify myself with this particularity which engenders a distinctive relationship with the sea. Cultural geography is very much focused on place and how people ‘live their lives’ in particular places. How people develop attachments to specific places is a key element in cultural geography. While much of the research conducted on fishing communities to date has focused on policy frameworks and its economic importance, the cultural and social dimensions have largely been overlooked. Fishing not only provides an important source of food and employment but is a way of life for many inhabitants of coastal communities and as such is an essential element of maritime culture. It is understood that the seas and oceans make up 70 per cent of the earth’s surface and almost 60 per cent ...