Reconceptualizing coastal fisheries conflicts: a Swedish case study

Fisheries conflicts have often been interpreted as arising from disputes over access to fish. Competition for fishing stocks among resource users (human and non-human) and fisheries managers’ attempts to control access to fish are depicted as main causes of conflicts. From this perspective, rampant environmental degradation, climate change, and a growing human population will only exacerbate tensions in fisheries. Yet is it only competition for fish that drives conflicts? Research on coastal and small-scale fishers has shown that they fish not only to achieve economic (material) goals but also to fulfill social and immaterial needs. Drawing on Burton’s theory of human needs, in this exploratory study, we consider how attention to coastal fishers’ material and immaterial needs might illuminate aspects of fisheries disagreements that are missed when conflicts are theorized solely in terms of material interests. Our data comes from 46 voluntary written statements provided at the end of a self-administered survey on the fishing sector sent to all holders of a Swedish commercial fishing license in June 2019. Results suggest that coastal fisheries conflicts are not solely about access to fish but also about social and emotional needs for respect, identity, belongingness, and status. In particular, fishers’ demands for actions to boost the number of coastal fishers – and subsequently the number of potential competitors – challenges the narrowly emphasis on materiality. We argue that an overemphasis on material needs may divert attention away from other causes of tension and thus prevent actions that could alleviate or mitigate fisheries conflicts.