Patterns in personal experience narratives: storytelling at cod harbour - a Newfoundland fishing community

This study is concerned with storytelling as a part of the folk culture of a fishing community on the north east coast of Newfoundland. The study is based on field work done in the community throughout the summer of 1969 during which I tape recorded oral narratives along with other folklore and folklife material . The principal genre discussed is the personal experience narrative which is an account of the experiences of either the narrator, someone in his kin network, orhis friends. It was found that a large number of community residents communicate in narrative form and that the narratives function to substantiate conversation preceeding the narrativei have a didactic function; function as a means of entertainment~ and reflect the narrators' and the community's value system. The methods employed in collecting the material were the directive and the non-directive interview techniques and participant observation. Collecting was done mainly among fishermen between fifty and eighty years of age and who, on -the average, had not gone beyond the sixth grade in school. Since the narratives are so much a part of the environment, I give an account of the community culture. The principal things that I deal with are the community's history, economy, education, religion, and social life which includes rites of passage, calendar customs , social events, visiting patterns, and gossip. Information in each of these categories is based primarily on oral reports, narratives and documented materials. After a discussion of the storytelling process in the community, I deal specifically with four male narrators. For each I give biographical information, discuss his repertoire, telling situations, style, and give a sampling of his narratives. The fourth narrator is discussed in more detail than the first three. The narratives of the latter comprise the final chapter in the study, and have been analyzed to show what they tell us about the narrator's style, his value system, and the community culture.

The exclusive fishing zone for the artisanal fishery in Chocó Colombia: origins, development, and consequences for artisanal fisheries and food security.

Exclusive Fishing Zones (EFZs) are a type of place-based management tool often used to mitigate conflicts between fishing sectors by granting fishing rights to one of the sectors. This case study enhances our knowledge of the pre- and post-implementation processes associated with EFZs as well as its consequences for fish stocks and artisanal fishers and their families. The study draws upon interviews with artisanal fishers and key informants related to an EFZ established in 2008 in Colombia (the Chocó-EFZ). The findings of this research indicate that conflicts at sea and on land between artisanal and industrial fisheries triggered the Chocó-EFZ process. Results also show some potential benefits of the Chocó-EFZ including: a) mitigating conflicts between artisanal fishers and industrial shrimpers; b) contributing to the food security of artisanal fishing households and sustaining local fish stocks; c) supporting an existing informal community-based management as well as promoting the development of a co-management regime. Potential negative effects of the Chocó-EFZ include: a) displacement of industrial fishing effort and, b) job loss within the industrial shrimp industry. The findings of this research also indicate that there are multiple factors that jeopardize the effectiveness and continuation of the Chocó-EFZ, some of which include diversity of fisheries, power struggles among stakeholders, and disagreement about exclusive access to fish resources.

Biological factors affecting sea survival of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L., in Western Arm Brook and an analysis of selection by the commercial fishery of nearby St. Barbe Bay, Newfoundland

The problems faced by scientists in charge of managing Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) stocks are : i) how to maintain spawning runs consisting of repeat spawners and large multi-sea-winter (MSW) adults in the face of selective homewater and distant commercial fisheries and , ii) how to more accurately predict returns of adults. Using data from scales collected from maiden Atlantic salmon grilse from two locations on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, St. Barbe Bay and Western Arm Brook, their length at smolting was back calculated. These data were then used to examine whether the St. Barbe commercial fishery is selective for salmon of particular smolt age and/or size. Analysis indicated that come commercial fishery selected larger, but not necessarily older adults that those escaping to Western Arm Brook over the period of this study, 1978-1987. It was determined that less than average size smolts survived better than above average size smolts. Slection for repeat spawners, large MSW salmon, and larger grilse has meant reductions in the proportions of these adults in the spawning runs on Western Arm Brook. This may impact the Western Arm Brook salmon stock by increasing the population instability. Sea survival was significantly correlated with selection by the commercial fishery. Characteristics of adults in Western Arm Brook during the period of study (1978-1987) did not help in explaining yearly variation in sea survival. The characteristics of smolts, however, when subjected to multiple regression analysis explained 57.2 percent of the yearly variation in sea survival.