Reluctant Pioneers: Constraints and Opportunities in an Icelandic Fishing Community (American University Studies Series XI, Anthropology and Sociology)

A fishing community in Northwest Iceland has found a revolutionary way to regulate the shrimpfishery. This book is an ethnographic and sociological study of how the community and its shrimpfishers, marine biologists, and politicians struggle to come to terms with a new way of managing a marine resource. The impact is felt in the way shrimpfishers have had to redefine their own occupation and work. Center-periphery relations and relationships among several fishery sectors have also been affected. The research is based on the use of in-depth interviews, participant observation, private documents, and governmental records, providing fresh insights into grassroots acceptance of innovative marine-resource management policies.