In Place of Fishing: Coastal Communities in Transition

Communities historically reliant on fisheries have faced changing circumstances in terms of their livelihoods, identities, demographics, and viabilities. I examine various manifestations of fisheries dependence and the process of transition as related to six cases of fishing communities undergoing social, economic, and cultural change. The empirical material for this dissertation comes from interviews in Northern Jutland, Denmark and New England, United States. My purpose in this research was to develop a qualitative baseline of what is happening in different coastal communities to identify the drivers of change and the circumstances that shape the challenges and opportunities related to local development.