Pernicious Harmony: Greenland and the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines

Greenland appears well-positioned to implement the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). Its existing national policies focused on human rights, food security, gender equity, and fisheries align with the objectives of the SSF Guidelines. Further, Greenland’s history of political support for small-scale fisheries gives reason that implementation is feasible. However, Greenland’s economic growth objectives via natural resource exploitation are in opposition to the SSF Guidelines and Greenland’s history of political support of small-scale fishers and fish workers. We show that small-scale fishers and fish workers in Qeqertarsuatsiaat, Greenland are in pernicious harmony with large-scale buyers. Through a representative survey among small-scale fishers and fish workers (N = 21), we find that small-scale fishers do not recognize large-scale buyers as resource competitors. Beyond recognition, such a configuration between government, small-scale fishers and the large–scale sector underestimates the small-scale sector’s capacity for innovation, hinders profit margin growth and market diversification, and perpetuates inequality between the large- and small-scale stakeholders. Our results demonstrate that, while Greenland may have a track record of implementing progressive human rights policy, implementing the SSF Guidelines requires reconciling competitiveness and understandings thereof, in Greenland’s fisheries. By highlighting blind spots in Greenland’s small-scale fisheries governance and management, we anticipate our study will help serve as a starting point for re-harmonizing Greenland’s small-scale fisheries policy design together with local, national and international objectives.