Anthropology of Fishing: An Ethnographic Study on the Culture of Fishermen in Sari, Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Abstract

In this paper, the culture of fishermen has been studied in Sari, north of Iran, taking an anthropological approach. Studying the culture of fishermen, the study aims to examine the effects of the Caspian Sea on the daily lives of the fishermen and their families from social and cultural points of view. This study, hence, focuses on the socio-cultural actors in the community of fishermen, social relations and the division of labor among them. In this ethnography, a variety of methods including the participatory observation and fieldnote, the ethnographic interviews and the focus groups discussion was used to collect data and evidence. Moreover, a kind of qualitative content analysis, namely the conventional content analysis was employed to analyze the data from the community. The main participants of this study recruited from the fishermen in the coastline in Sari, members of fishing corporations and the staff in fishing-related organizations in Sari, Mazandaran. This paper addresses the social and professional relationship among Sari’s fishermen, and examines their ways of leadership. This study revealed that the director of these people (called Losman in the fishing communities in the south bank of the Caspian Sea) plays a key role in the community and his expertise, skill and technical knowledge lead to a special working relationship with other fishermen in the corporation company. The findings of this study also demonstrates that the Losman’s local knowledge is unique and more or less monopolized to him and can be divided into tying the seine net (called Pare), specifying the depth of sea water and the direction for setting the net, forecasting the stormy weather (whether or not to take a risk and head for the sea to catch the fish), put him in a position of power and authority

Keywords

References

منابع
احمدی­پور، زهرا و همکاران (1384)، «پهنه آبی شمال ایران: خزر تا کاسپین»، فصل‌نامه ژئوپلیتیک، سال 1، شماره 1، صص:36-53
باوند، داود هرمیداس (1380)، «رژیم حقوقی دریای خزر: نگاهی به ابعاد زیست‌محیطی و امنیتی»، فصل‌نامه مطالعات آسیای مرکزی و قفقاز، شماره 36، صص: 7-38.
پورکاظمی، محمد (1387)، «منابع زنده دریای خزر و کنوانسیون محیط‌زیست»،مطالعات اوراسیای مرکزی، سال 1، شماره 1، صص: 1- 20.
خدادادی، بنیامین (1391). راهنمای گردشگری استان مازندران، ساری: اداره کل میراث فرهنگی، صنایع‌دستی و گردشگری مازندران.
غنی­نژاد، داوود و عبدالملکی، شهرام (1388)، «بهره‌برداری پایدار از ماهیان استخوانی در سواحل ایرانی دریای خزر، فرصت‌ها و نیازها»، مجله شیلات ایران، سال 18، شماره 2، صص: 105- 118.
فلیک، اووه، (1387). درآمدی بر پژوهش کیفی، ترجمه هادی جلیلی، تهران: نشر نی
قربان­زاده، رجبعلی و نظری، سلطان (1392). سالنامه آماری سازمان شیلات ایران 1391-1381، تهران: سازمان شیلات ایران.
موسسه مطالعات اجتماعی دانشگاه تهران (1361) مطالعه صید و صیادی در بندر انزلی، تهران: موسسه مطالعات اجتماعی دانشگاه تهران.
Acheson, James M (1981), "Anthropology of Fishing", Annual Review of Anthropology 10: 275-316.
Blaikie, Norman. (2010) Designing Social Research, 2nd Edition, Cambridge: Polity.
Ginkel, Rob V (2007), Coastal Cultures: An Anthropology of Fishing and Whaling Traditions, Apeldoorn/Antwerpen: Spinhuis Publishers..
Kelty, Ruth & R. Kelty (2011), "Human Dimensions of a Fishery at a Crossroads: Resource Valuation, Identity, and Way of Life in a Seasonal Fishing Community", Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal 24(4): 334-348.
Knuston, Peter (1991), "Measuring Ourselves: Adaption and Anxiety Aboard a Fishing Vessel", Maritime Anthropological Studies 4(1):73-90.
Kottak, Conrad P (1999), "New Ecological Anthropology", American Anthropological Association 101(1): 24-35.
Lazrus, Heather (2012), "Sea Change: Island Communities and Climate Change", Annual Review of Anthropology 41:285-301.
McGoodwin, James R (1990), Crisis in the World’s Fisheries: People, Problems and Policies, California: Stanford University Press.
McGurie, Thomas R (1991), "Science and the Destruction of a Shrimp Fleet", Maritime Anthropological Studies 4(1): 32-55.
Orlove, Benjamin S (1980), "Ecological Anthropology", Annual Review of Anthropology 9: 235-273.
Palmer, Craig T (1991), "The Life and Death of Small-Scale Fishery: Surf Clam Dredging in Southern Maine", Maritime Anthropological Studies 4(1): 56-72.
Shannon, Sarah E & H. Hsieh (2005), "Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis", Qualitative Health Research 15(9): 1277-1288.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics