Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Qupperneq 13

FISKA ELLA IKKI FISKA. FATAN FØROYSKRA UNGDÓMSINS
AV FISKI OG FISKISKAPI
1 1
wants to work on a ship for a couple of
years, to try it and hopefully earn some
good money, thereafter work on land, be-
cause life on sea becomes, as he says, too
boring as an engineer. Probably he has oth-
er aspects in consideration as well: playing
guitar as leisure activity, creating a family
with a ‘modern family-life’ impracticable
for sailors, to get experiences from other
occupations, and so on. The big earnings
associated with parts of the fisheries (on
sea) in the Faroe Islands make the business
quite attractive for young people, but the
dilemma is that sailors’ lifestyles and work-
ing conditions are not favoured among
youths in our times. The other boy (Hans)
with working preferences in the fisheries is
more determined to work on the sea, not
mentioning any restrictions concerning the
sailor’s career. He wants, like his class-
mate, to become member of a successful
ship crew in order to earn big money.
Hans: I am going to be a shipmaster or cap-
tain or something like that
FG: So you would like to work on ships?
Hans: Yes.
FG: Is this something you always wanted?
Hans: Yes.
FG: Are there sailors in yourfamily?
Hans: Yes, many.
FG: Then you will go to navigation school?
Hans: Yes.
FG: What kind offishing vessel would you
like to work on?
Hans: I don’t know...just a good one...
where you earn big money.
FG: On a trawler maybe?
Hans: Yes, maybe yes.
The outcome of the societal changes during
the 80s and 90s is an individualised knowl-
edge-based society, giving individuals the
responsibility of their own destiny (Gaini
2003b, 2004). This is in turn affecting the
relation between generations, hence also
the cultural continuity and social reproduc-
tion through time. Guy Debord says: ‘Men
resemble their times more than their fa-
thers’ (quoted in Bauman, 2002: 128). Peo-
ple don't expect boys to step into the shoes
of their fathers nowadays; if they imitate
their fathers or mothers, then it is, in princi-
ple, their own free decision out of several
equal opportunities; in other words a re-
flexive strategy - not a ‘natural’ process.
Youth of southern Suðuroy
In the southern part of Suðuroy físh is to a
higher degree present in youths’ minds, as
most people in the region work in and de-
pend on the fishing industry (Mentamála-
stýrið, 2001; Apostle et al., 2002). Young
people from the leading town Vágur and its
neighbouring communities express their at-
titudes concerning fish and fisheries -
among other subjects - in a UNESCO-re-
port, ‘Northern Futures Young Voices’
(Holm, 1999; Bjørndal and Aarsæther,
2000), comparing young people from
twelve peripheral municipalities in seven
countries: Canada, Iceland, Norway, Swe-
den, Finland, Russia and Faroe Islands.
The reflections of southern Suðuroy youths
demonstrate the multifarious facets of
‘fish’ and ‘fishing’: tradition, local culture,
working place, nature, hobby etcetera. It is
thus not solely an economic occupational
issue; its meaning is much deeper and more