Fish as food: Food systems as an organizing concept for local community sustainability and fisheries policy

Small-scale fisheries make vital contributions to conservation, health, livelihoods, and the cultural identities of people across the globe. Despite these social and ecological complexities, fisheries are often treated as a resource to be managed for the purpose of efficiency and economic profit. Increasingly, local communities are resisting prevailing approaches that treat fish as a commodity by engaging in efforts to (re)envision “fish as food.” This session presented a series of place-based experiences that demonstrate ways of using food systems as an organizing concept to protect small-scale fisheries, build sustainable communities and impact fisheries policy by exploring the food-related values that surround fisheries in local communities; the strategies communities are using to support enhanced access to local fish as a part of community-based food systems; and the interactions among food security, livelihoods, and conservation goals in particular settings.

Insights were shared from L’sitkuk (Bear River First Nation, Nova Scotia), Lockeport and Sandy Point, Nova Scotia, Kakisa and Deline, Northwest Territories, and two Indigenous communities from Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Ultimately, the session aimed to foster community capacity through sharing experiences, while offering new insights into community conservation and livelihoods.

Key Themes:

Livelihoods, Wildlife & Fisheries, Climate & Environmental Changes

Presenters:

Kristen Lowitt (Mount Allison University), Charles Levkoe (Lakehead University), Sherry Pictou (Mount Saint Vincent University), Andrew Spring (Wilfrid Laurier University), Colleen Turlo (Ecology Action Centre), Satya Ramen (Ecology Action Centre), Chief Dean Sayers (Batchewana First Nation), Patty Williams (Food Action Research Centre, Mount Saint Vincent University)

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