Granny baited the lines: Perpetual crisis and the changing role of women in Scottish fishing communities

The extended North Atlantic fisheries crisis has greatly transformed the sexual division of labor along the coast of Scotland. Only a handful of places remain where virtually every household relies on fishing, and the Scottish fishery no longer depends heavily upon women's work. However, even where fishing has ceased to he a primary resource base, the idea of fishing "heritage" remains a potential source of income. A number of the smaller east coast communities now depend upon tourism and touristic representations of the fisher past as much as, if not more so, than they do upon the fishery itself. Depictions of women feature prominently in fisher museums and heritage displays. This article explores the significance of gendered representations for local identity management in the context of "perpetual crisis." (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.