Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Page 10

8
TO FISH OR NOT TO FISH. THE MEANING OF FISH AND FISHERIES
AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE FAROE ISLANDS
career in the fisheries, a number that will
most likely decline even further during the
next years. The prestige of the fisheries as a
working-place has dropped seriously
among young people, especially the physi-
cally hard ‘traditional’ work in the fishing
industry has lost popularity.
Young people in the Faroe Islands have
various leisure-time activities, físhing defi-
nitely not being among the most popular to-
day. Only 74 out of 637 9th grade pupils, i.e.
11.6 percent, have ‘fishing’ as one of their
leisure-time activities according to the new
national ESPAD-survey (European School
Survey Project on Alcohol and Other
Drugs) from 2003. The questionnaire con-
tained twenty leisure-activity options in to-
tal, only three of them being less popular
than físhing in the aggregated results.
The same picture appears from another
recent national survey, conducted by the
Centre for Local and Regional Develop-
ment in Klaksvík in 2003: less than ten per-
cent of 900 respondents have ‘fishing and
sailing’ as leisure-time activity, while
‘sports’ and ‘music and movies’ are the
most popular activities with scores above
50 percent. ‘Fishing and sailing’ and ‘mu-
sic and movies’ are part of the leisure-time
of 85 and 550 youths respectively, a clear
indication of the rock music leisure domi-
nance over fish and físheries. At the bottom
of the list, with less than five percent
scores, are ‘political activities’ and the
open category ‘others’. This survey includ-
ed all students from 9lh grade (aged four-
teen and fífteen) at all Iower secondary
schools in the Faroe Islands, i.e. the com-
plete age cohort, as well as all students
from the last school year in all upper sec-
ondary schools.
Questioned, in the same survey, what
they would like to do for a living in the fu-
ture, what were their highest working pref-
erences, the fishing industry was surpassed
by several ‘trendy’ businesses. Fisheries
(on sea) ended fífth from the top, while
‘físheries on land’ and ‘fish farming’ actu-
ally were among the least popular business-
es on the 22 options list. ‘Hairdressing and
face/body care’ is the most attractive busi-
ness, the prime choice of 172 respondents,
while ‘music and art’ and ‘lawyer and ac-
countant’ follow on second and third posi-
tions respectively. The físhing (on sea)
business is, by the way, the future working
preference of 116 respondents.
The favourite future jobs of Faroese
youths are clearly not directly related to the
fisheries. Among students with a clear idea
of what training and education they will
aim at, the top list of job preferences is
though a bit different: (1) trade and office;
(2) health care science; (3) educationalist;
(4) hairdressing and face/body care; and (5)
captain. Lawyer, chef and mechanic are
also quite popular future jobs. There is any-
way a variety of job preferences with some
common immanent aspects. Young people
want to be creative, aesthetic and indepen-
dent, as well as using their intellect. They
avoid what they view as ‘boring’ routine
work without challenges. The high status
jobs in the físheries on sea are obviously
‘captain’, a position securing good earn-
ings and power, and ‘chef’, a position asso-
ciated with artistry since cooking became
attractive and fashionable (for men and