Fisheries privatization, social transitions, and well-being in Kodiak, Alaska

Scholars and fishermen alike view the privatization of fishing rights as a fundamental driver of social change in fishing communities. This article presents the results of a mixed-methods ethnographic study in Kodiak, Alaska, exploring how fisheries privatization processes remake fishery systems. Findings from this study suggest that a diverse range of fishery participants share core values about the social dimensions of fishery systems. Support or opposition to past privatization processes tended to be articulated in reference to how these core values (e.g., hard work, opportunity, and fairness) were perceived to have been strengthened or eroded by such processes. Data from this study suggest that while still widespread in the Kodiak fishing community, core social values in fishing may be changing as a result of privatization processes. Although ethnographic and survey data showed a range of perspectives on the effects of privatization on fishing and the Kodiak community, study participants tended to talk about privatization as a significant change that had divisive, negative impacts in the community. Crew members and the next generation of fishermen were identified as disproportionately affected by privatization processes. Ethnographic data detail important shifts in the power, status, and livelihoods of crew members. Nearly all Kodiak fishery participants interviewed expressed concern about the future of fisheries access in the community for the next generation, in large part because of the substantial financial barriers to entry generated by privatization of fisheries access. Many discussed the need for more entry-level opportunities necessary for access in all fisheries.