Are fisheries-dependent communities in Scotland really maritime-dependent communities?

• We attempt to quantify the links between economic dependency and fishing in Fishing Dependent Communities (FDC) in Scotland.
• The Scottish Index of Multiply Deprivation is used to test the relationship between a change in fisheries and deprivation.
• There was no relationship between the decline in catches and a change in income or employment benefits scores.
• This paper suggests that the concept of FDC may be waning in importance, economically if not politically.
• There is increased dependency on other marine industries and ‘maritime communities’ encapsulates this occupational diversity.

It is often said that fishing is not a job, but a way of life. The traditions, culture and structure of fishing in coastal communities have been built over the centuries, supporting their development and sustaining their existence (OECD, 2007). Scotland has one of Europe's largest fishing fleets with 2,046 working vessels; around 4,800 fishers; 132 active fishing ports; and landings which totalled £466 million in 2012. However, during the last ten years, the number of vessels, people employed and active ports have all decreased and are now at the lowest levels ever recorded (though the value of landings in 2011 was at its highest since 2000 (£501 million) (Marine Scotland, 2012)). This contraction (or ‘consolidation’) of fishing activity has been driven by fleet efficiency and policies targeting stock recovery – targets which are now showing some success, though, arguably this has been at the expense of some ‘fisheries dependent communities’ (FDC). This paper looks at community well-being and the links with changes in fishing activity to ask the questions: has a decrease in fishing opportunity had a negative effect on community well-being in Scottish coastal communities?; and if so, has that effect been greater or less in rural compared to urban areas? Community well-being has been measured using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) to compare fishing communities’ well-being in relation to other Scottish towns. Our main conclusions are that the decrease in fishing activity has had relatively little effect on so-called FDCs, especially those in rural areas, and that we should expand the concept of fisheries–dependent communities into the concept of marine-dependent communities (MDCs) to encapsulate the impacts the range of marine industries have on coastal communities.