Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Page 7

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To fish or not to fish
The meaning of fish and fisheries among young people in the Faroe
Islands
Fiska ella ikki fiska. Fatan føroyskra ungdómsins
av fiski og fiskiskapi
Firouz Gaiui
Institute of History and Social Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, J.C. Svabosgøta 7, FO-IOO Tórshavn, the
Faroe Islands. Email: firouz@setur.fo
Úrtak
Fiskivinnan var fyrr tað arbeiðspláss, sum flest ung
væntaðu sær eina framtíð í, men sum tíðimar em
broyttar, hevur tað unga ættarliðið í Føroyum eisini
broytt framtíðarætlanir. Fiskivinnan hevur ikki somu
atdráttarmegi á ungdómin longur, og tað kemst av fleiri
orsøkum. í hesi grein verður hugt at sambandinum
millum samfelagsbroytingar í nýggjari tíð og fatan
ungdómsins av fiskiskapi í Føroyum. Hvussu er
fiskivinnan stillað í huganum hjá ungdóminum? Eisini
verða best umtóktu framtíðarstørvini ímillum ung í
Føroyum lýst. Urslitini eru í høvuðsheitum grundað á
tvær víðfevnandi spurnarkanningar frá 2003.
Abstract
The fishing industry used to be the working-place where
young people expected to find themselves in the future,
but as times have changed, young people in the Faroe
Islands also changed their future plans. Due to several
reasons the fishing industry doesn’t have a strong
attraction for youths any more. In this articlc we focus
on the social changes that have taken place in recent
years and their influence upon young people’s
perception of the fishing industry as a future work place.
Also, 1 describe the most attractive future occupations
among young people. The results are primarily based on
two extensive surveys from 2003.
Introduction
During the 90s the Faroese society changed
radically. Traditional values and lifestyles
associated with the fisheries declined in
popularity, challenged by new preferences
of education, work and leisure. Even if the
fishing industry has lost recognition among
young people and is considered less attrac-
tive than it used to be, most people in the
Faroe Islands have some kind of connec-
tion to the fisheries, many also making ca-
reer in the business after strong times past
hesitations. Preferences of education, work
and leisure may fít perfectly together in
young people’s representations of ‘self’,
but their manifestations in social reality
turn out to be much more complex and am-
biguous. This paper starts with an introduc-
tion to the crisis of the early 90s’ Faroe Is-
lands, discussing its consequences for
young people in particular and the Faroese
society in general, followed by a presenta-
tion of data illustrating the preferences of
Fróðskaparrit 52. bók 2004: 5-15