Abstract
Beginning in our own narratives about eating fish, Alison and Rita discuss broad issues related to environmental justice for the fishers who struggle to maintain their livelihoods against policies that promote private profit over sustainability. Our stories take us from Canada and continental Portugal to the Azorean Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where we have been doing research and community work in collaboration with artisanal and small-scale fishers for the past ten years. In discussing history of governance and politics of fisheries in Europe, we outline the struggles for fishing communities. Underneath these stories lie values and images, such as “alive and kicking”, that could support the sustainability of oceans and the well-being of fishing communities. Unfortunately, myths and stereotypes about fishers and categorizing industrial scale fishing as the same as that done by people who have deep connections with fish as living neighbours, not dead “resources”, are powerful and prevalent. Listening to the voices of fishers tell about living as part of ocean ecosystems while negotiating economic and political systems which champion unlimited growth is a useful way to deal with these complex issues in formal classroom teaching as well as informal and nonformal environmental education.
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Notes
- 1.
European Atlas of the Sea http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/atlas/index_en.html
- 2.
“Embora, muitas vezes eu olhe para um peixe, para aquele peixe que pesco e olho para ele, e ele teve que morrer para que eu viva. E é isto, a vida no fundo também passa por esta verdade. Para que eu consiga sobreviver mais todos aqueles que comem peixe, é preciso que o peixe morra também. Pronto, e todos nós fazemos parte desta cadeia. Enfim, os maiores comem os mais pequenos.” (Sr. Madruga)
- 3.
“O mar para mim é tudo. Eu sem o mar não sou nada. O mar é tudo para a gente.” (Sr. Dutra)
- 4.
o mar foi uma riqueza para mim, porque eu, era lapas, apanhava muito peixe com uma cana sentada no calhau, apanhava vejas, apanhava peixes-porcos, apanhava carapau, apanhava charro, apanhava tudo o que havia. Era danada. Foi o meu melhor vizinho, o meu melhor amigo e eu fui judia dele, porque soube muito bem explorá-lo. Quando saía pelo portão fora havia uma vizinha minha que me dizia: Tu não vais sozinha para a costa? E eu disse: Vou. Mas nunca vou sozinha. Com quem é que tu vais? Vou aqui com o Nosso Senhor. Quando saio pelo portão fora digo, Nosso Senhor que vá comigo que eu pago as suas esmolas. Eu não tenho nada lá, mas venho sempre carregada para casa. Tenho para mim e tenho para dar (Matilde do Coração Jesus)
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Neilson, A.L., São Marcos, R. (2020). Catch of the Day. In: Pontius, J., Mueller, M., Greenwood, D. (eds) Place-based Learning for the Plate. Environmental Discourses in Science Education, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42814-3_7
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