Maltese fishing villages : the fishers’ changing identities

Abstract

This research focuses on the key protagonists of the Maltese fishing enterprise; the fishermen. Fish has become an everyday commodity and staple food, yet, given contemporary and complex supply chains systems, it is easy to forget the people who source this food for the costumer. To raise more awareness, and to generate an appreciation of fishermen, this research will explore their sense of identity and their own rationalisation of their existence. This study will open a window unto their world for a better appreciation of a community of people who are as colourful as their beautiful traditional fishing boats. Fishermen faced hard, yet natural dangers in the past. However, although today their life is made safer thanks to technology, they now face certain complexities, problems, and anxiousness most of which ensue from legislations and commercial interests that threaten their existence. Indeed, the fishermen’s resilience is being put to the test each day albeit via completely new challenges that are a reflection of the changes society has gone through over the last decades. Even though technology has made it possible for fisheries to substantially grow into industrial enterprises, small-scale fisheries continued to make use of traditional fishing methods. Since their fishing gear is both passive and selective, small-scale fishermen have always managed to make a living for themselves and their families whilst respecting nature’s delicate balance. This is further accentuated by their seasonal switching to different species which enables stocks to recuperate while others are being targeted. To this end, small-scale fishermen have always adapted to nature’s needs rather than exploit nature to meet theirs. Their sustainability, coupled with an array of other advantages, highlight the need to protect them which can only be achieved by understanding them. This research thus aims to capture an accurate a picture as possible of the Maltese small-scale fishery within an international context, with the information provided rendered even more relevant seeing as the greater part of the worldwide fisheries, as with the Maltese fishery, is small-scale in nature. Being from Marsaxlokk, undisputedly the archipelago’s main fishing village with strong familial ties with the sea, the subject has always piqued my interest. With paternal grandparents and their predecessors having been full-time fishers followed by my father who opted to being a part-timer with no fisher offspring to continue the legacy, a reality which is experienced by most fisher families, it soon became apparent that the small-scale sector is phasing out; a phenomenon which required explanations. Answers could only be provided through investigation and analyses, which gave rise to this research. The idea of delving into the subject was originally borne from the need to contribute to my village’s heritage. Seeing as I could not do so by taking up fishing myself, I went about it by researching on the subject which, back in 2013, translated in my Master’s degree dissertation. Recognising the need to expand the territory and provide as wholesome a picture as possible of the Maltese small-scale fishing community, I decided to level up the research by including an array of fishing communities as found in different localities which bear an affinity to fishing. Some villages thus associated have already phased out whereas others have all but disappeared with few fishermen left to voice their concerns. Each subject area was researched in its entirety until all the possibilities were exhausted and the interrelationships which are leading to the fishermen’s predicament have been explored. The contributing factors of those holding on against all odds have been studied and presented with the hope that action is taken to stabilise the situation and, preferably, to reverse the damage by catering for the sector’s needs in a bid to ensure their survival. If left unchecked, an entire subculture with traditional and cultural ties deeply rooted in Maltese history and who remained true to the local identity, will be lost. […]