Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Qupperneq 16

14
TO FISH OR NOT TO FISH. THE MEANING OF FISH AND FISHERIES
AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE FAROE ISLANDS
There is a wide gap between preferences
and dreams of future career and concrete
work in adult life. Maybe the freedom to
choose future work has increased, and the
opportunities to make a living out of arts
and sports are expanding, but the future has
correspondingly become more unpredict-
able. Future planning is a mission full of
uncertainties. Students, says Zygmunt Bau-
man fatalistically, ‘will soon fmd out that
the demand for their skills does not last as
long as the time required for mastering
them’ (Bauman, 1996).
The uncertainties associated with late-
modern society are, combined with the de-
pendency on personal choices and respon-
sibilities, shaping the strategies of young
people. Everything, says Bauman critically,
‘seems to conspire these days against dis-
tant goals, life-long projects, lasting com-
mitments, etemal alliances, immutable
identities’ (1996: 51). While continuity and
stability were characteristics of (early)
modem society, doubt and risks are the
main characteristics of late-modern times
(Beck, 1987; Giddens, 1994). These social
and cultural characteristics, defming con-
temporary society, are indeed influencing
the preferences and priorities of Faroese
youth, thus also directing the fisheries’ po-
sition in the minds of young people. They
want a ‘reason’ for choosing the fisheries,
because the options are countless, every
branch trying to catch their eye and mind.
Young people are forced to make their own
choices, to build a cultural identity, and
their different essential decisions should
somehow coordinate: making lifestyle,
leisure, values and working conditions har-
monious. But what if you don’t know what
to choose? Many young people are in
doubt, they feel lost in the jungle of oppor-
tunities offered, and wish that somebody
could help them through the process.
To be able to take ‘good’ successful de-
cisions, avoiding social marginalisation,
people need basic practical knowledge:
cultural capital. Knowledge is the most im-
portant resource in the process of deciding
future education, lifestyle and career, re-
ducing the risk of making inadequate deci-
sions with fatal consequences (Giddens,
1994). Therefore, the future of the fisheries
is directly related to the youths’ knowledge
and experience from the fisheries. The fish-
eries have to satisfy some of the youths’ de-
mands, to convince them of the manifold
career possibilities within the fishing in-
dustry, in order to get a new image as mod-
ern, open and challenging. The rather-rock-
than-fish argument from the music journal-
ist is a typical way of stereotyping and con-
trasting the businesses: Fish/rock, closed/
open, routine/variation, old-fashion/trendy,
past/future.
The fishing industry is full of hidden po-
tentials - and young people are highly con-
scious of this fact. They reílect on their per-
sonal choices, and try to combine modern
‘fancy’ works with the fishing industry,
which still dominates the Faroese national
economy.
References
Apostle, R., Holm, D., Hovgaard, G., Høgnesen, Ó.W.
and Mortensen, B. 2002. Tlte Restructuration of tlie
Faroese Economy. Copenhagen.
Arge, J. 2000. Fráflyting og búskaparkreppa. Útiseta-
kanning. Tórshavn.