Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Page 15

FISKA ELLA IKKI FISKA. FATAN FØROYSKRA UNGDÓMSINS
AV FISKI OG FISKISKAPI
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and knowledge and a ‘stable’ occupation;
between tradition and reflexive modernity.
As a matter of fact, it is not necessary to op-
pose fisheries to higher education. The fish-
ing industry desperately needs to achieve a
new image, not being identified with boring
routine work without any prestige and rep-
utation anymore. The viability of small re-
mote communities in the Faroe Islands de-
pends on the efforts, local and national,
made to hold the rising generation.
To fish or not to fish, that is the question
many young people around the Faroe Is-
lands have in mind, when they cogitate fu-
ture life in their native community, because
local economic structures makes it difficult
to establish alternative businesses, even if
indeed it is a possible and desirable task
(Apostle et al., 2000).
Consequences of new priorities
It is not easy to find a place on the labour
market without a diploma from a higher
education institution as ticket of entry. Ed-
ucational requirements have grown in all
the economic sectors, even in the tradition-
al manual fisheries. The attractive occupa-
tions in the fisheries are for people with
training and qualifications, as well as solid
experiences (Gaini, 2003b).
Many young people regard fishing as
definite low status work, suited for people
without any education or ‘talents’ only. If
everything else goes wrong, then you can
fmd work in the fisheries; this is a common
view among young people from the upper
secondary schools. The Faroese fishing in-
dustry is actually a highly modern trade,
computer technology being an irreplace-
able part of it (op.cit.). The negative atti-
tudes towards the industry are a conse-
quence of the persistent image of fishery
work as dirty, cold, and outdated; an image
not matching today’s social reality, a prob-
lem that must be solved if the recruitment
of young educated Iabour into the fisheries
shall be a successful venture. The fish and
fisheries have to get rid of their poor repu-
tation among upper secondary school
youths.
The físheries are, according to many
people, a branch without room for creativi-
ty, personal development or ‘mind work’; it
is a closed world of traditional masculine
norms and ideals that are incongruous with
the demands and lifestyles of many people
today. The working preferences of young
people are closely related to leisure and
lifestyle preferences, a characteristic of
‘post-crisis’ latemodern Faroese society.
What used to be strictly leisure is often the
future working preference as well, and vice
versa, something clearly manifested in rela-
tion to sports and music. Faroese youth
wants to play rock music, not work on a
fishing vessel, argues the Danish music
journalist Morten Steen Nielsen (Oygg-
jatíðini, June 25, 2003) after a short visit in
the Faroe Islands. A statement telling the
truth with some modifications; rock music
is very popular as a leisure activity in the
Faroe Islands, but very few people end up
as professional musicians; in many cases
the music life is part of a youth culture,
hence linked and limited to a specific peri-
od in life. There is therefore no logic con-
tradiction between working in the fisheries
and playing in a rock band.