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Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People People on the Move - N° 88-89, April - December 2002 Globalisation and Fishing Chaplains!Rev. Fr. Brian MCMAHON, [French summary, German summary] Britain is regarded as a Christian society but that is more in name than in fact. Yet, it carries on a proud tradition dating back to the early Christian community. IXTHUS ÂÂÂ Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. Fishing communities are very conscious of the close connection between their vocation of fishing and the Christian way of life:
Two other images spring to mind, one obvious the other not so obvious that demonstrate the Scriptures come alive every day within the fishing community but more about that later. Unfortunately, Christian traditions cannot help fishing communities survive in a rapidly changing world where globalisation is the new God regardless of effect on people, communities and countries. The seas of plenty are in danger of becoming empty seas, leaving fishing communities devastated with perhaps worse to come. This creeping problem is leaving the industry frustrated, anxious and fearful of an uncertain future as already experienced in the depressed fishing communities of North East Canada and North West/East of England. They are a warning of what might and could be. Although the causes are complex they can be easily identified.
Whatever the reasons it is the fact that is important. From the Baring Sea to the North Sea there are less fish to be caught. Two examples highlight this problem.
For too long we have declared the best conservationists were the fishers but scientific research contradicts this and so, looking at the worst possible scenario, we could be facing a social and economic disaster for our fishing communities who are ill-equipped and ill-prepared for such a scenario. Are our present day successful fishing industries preparing for a future that may not be as successful as now? Other successful fishing industries of the past no longer survive due to not reading the signs of the times. How does a fisher, who has sailed the seas all his adult life searching for the ultimate catch, cope with little or no work in the strange (and hostile!) environment of factories or dole queues? In the late 1980ÂÂÂs the European Community commissioned a report by Oxford University on the fishing way of life. Their report surprised no one in the AoS who is associated with the fishing world. Just over 90% of fishers live within five kilometres of their boats. Unlike the merchant navy chaplain who visits a seafarer and may never see him/her again, the fishing chaplain has the opportunity of getting to know not only the fisher, but to experience the complete family socially, economically and spiritually. The scarcity of resource is not just fishermen losing their jobs but their towns and village communities suffering dramatically. Fleetwood, where I worked, highlights this problem ÂÂÂ in the 1970ÂÂÂs we had 89 deep-sea trawlers with an average crew of fifteen. For each fisherman who went to sea five worked on the land based associated industries. Today, all these trawlers are gone and Fleetwood is the poorest economic town in its provincial region with the highest unemployment coupled with stress related problems. The consequence for the AoS chaplain is startling and we may need to promote unpopular causes among the fishing fraternity. We need to learn new skills of helping deprived families in facing up to unemployment, the complexity of social benefits (if any!) and campaigning in a political context ÂÂÂ without being political - for this deprived community to receive financial aid and proper levels of redundancy. Unpopular? Many within the industry so concerned with the needs of today still have the traditional fishing optimism and are unable to envisage a future without fish. Hence the rejection of scientific data and their unwillingness, or inability, to listen to an unpopular message which can be difficult for the chaplain who has listened and understood. In an age of dwindling fish supplies we need to return to basics. We are associated with modern day apostles who fished all night and caught nothing. Unless we conserve fish, the fishing life, as we know it, is doomed. If there are no fish there are no fishers. We must support conservation recognising the consequent problems for the fishing communities we love and support. We need to emphasise that to pass on our fishing traditions to future generations our care (not just catching) of fish is essential. The majority of fishers wish to pass on their skills to their children but there is a real danger in some areas that this may not happen. In Britain one of the reasons we have so many problems is that for too long we refused to believe the marine scientists who warned us repeatedly that our present approach to fishing would ultimately deprive us of what is supposed to be so precious to us. Added to this, political expediency demanded that scientific findings were not fully implemented. But conservation is not a popular message but when was any message of the prophet? In some communities that may mean not being the most popular of people but what is the alternative if we believe the scientific data. If we are willing to take on this new role with our fishing families we can play an even greater part in being the social expression of these wonderful people. With our faith and vocation we have the humbling privilege of being even better apostles. I speak from personal experience and it is up to you to determine whether all or part of it applies to you.
I mentioned the particular cause I was part of. Working with other fishing ports we spent 20 years battling against refusals by the government of the day to compensate fishermen who lost their jobs in the 1970ÂÂÂs due to political agreements that took no account of the needs of people. I shared their frustration and despair but never a thought of abandoning the struggle to be adequately compensated. Persistence paid off and we were successful. Recently, thousands of fishing families throughout Britain, who received no compensation or redundancy when they were thrown on the scrap heap so long ago, have been reasonably compensated. The grateful fishing community recognises we are with them for the long haul. We may have to support unpopular conservation methods but fishers appreciate we will not abandon them. We are the privileged ones working among the ÂÂÂapostles of the seaÂÂÂ. Earlier I mentioned two other Scriptural images that have meant much to me in attempting to understand the inbuilt philosophy of fishing tradition. I think of Peter who, recognising the frailty of human nature and the laws of science, began to sink rather than putting his trust in the outstretched hand of the Loving Lord. But, in desperation, his faith surfaced and he was saved. Fishers of the future will be no different from the fishers of the past in their determination to ensnare the greatest catch. In so doing they endure mountainous seas that their frail boats have no right to be on; summed up in the Breton prayer, ÂÂÂThe Ocean is so vast and my boat is so small, so protect me, O LordÂÂÂ. As one old fisherman put it, ÂÂÂin a storm more prayers are said on the bridge than in any churchÂÂÂ. They recognise the frailty of their trade but somewhere deep down they believe that somewhere there is an outstretched hand seeking to protect them. It is a situation that every fisher, like Peter, can face up to and cry out for help. Every time we walk among fishers we walk the shores of the Sea of Galilee and see a Peter who may have to reach out in faith ÂÂÂ a faith we can help nourish. The other reference is one that permeates the four Gospels as we follow the journey of Our Lord to Calvary and beyond. It is a presence that has made me conclude the real heroes of the Scriptures, and the seas, are not heroes but heroines and what has been wonderfully reassuring is that not one fisher with whom I have shared my thinking has disagreed. Who were these saintly women who were always there for Our Lord and the disciples? They were the ordinary women who did the ordinary things so extra-ordinarily well to help make the difficult life of the Master that much easier to bear. As Our LordÂÂÂs first apostles were fishers, I like to think that many of these supportive ladies were fisherÂÂÂs wives who know what it is like to scrimp and scrape to make things good. The mother, wife, sister, girlfriend who sit at home know the storm on land is a mere breeze compared with the storm at sea. They watch their loved one sail away and live out every fear while the fisher realises the reality of the storm is less than the over-active mind at home. Spending 15 to 18 days waiting for the home coming and then hiding family difficulties for 3 days so as to protect the fisher before he renews his vocation. They see their loved one toil tirelessly and often come home with little which means they have to borrow once again and to do without, what many of us think are, the basics of life. In the most unfortunate of circumstances, they stand, like the women of Jerusalem, and ÂÂÂweep for their childrenÂÂÂ trying to come to terms that the sea has won another battle. And to think that if we are willing to make the effort they are willing to allow us to be a part of their lives, to share their joys and sorrows. The world constantly changes but we have the spiritual joy of reliving the Scriptures and in these heroines see the loving care bestowed upon Our Lord by the good ladies of his day. Is there any other chaplaincy that can get as close as this ÂÂÂ recognising the first apostles, and the women, always there in their faithfulness. All of us will continue to be affected by globalisation and in ways that we cannot begin to comprehend but in this rapidly changing world there are two constant factors ÂÂÂ the fisher wishing to fish and the strong fishing family support at home. These wonderful people of the sea have something special to offer us. They feel we have something special to offer them, something no others in the fishing world can offer. We share a Christian commitment upholding the dignity of fishing families. We share a common bond. We are attracted to FISH ÂÂÂ IXTHUS ÂÂÂ Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour Appendix 1:- Compensating fishing familiesUntil the 1970ÂÂÂs British deep-sea trawlers from Fleetwood, Hull and Grimsby fished off the twelve-mile Icelandic limit. Iceland declared a 200 mile limit and after the ÂÂÂcod warsÂÂÂ the mainstay catch of these ports had disappeared leading to mass unemployment. Losing their livelihoods, fishers discovered they were not entitled to redundancy payment even though some had fished for 20, 30 or 40 years. Icelandic fishing necessitated being away from home for an average of eighteen days with a home break of three days before returning to sea. Generally it was on the same trawler as before and, if not, another trawler belonging to the same company. But trawlers owners signed them off at the end of each trip and resigned them as they returned. Due to this signing on/off the fishers were officially classified as casual labour even though they may have sailed for the same company all their lives. Hence, they were entitled to nothing. The owners were compensated with millions of pounds sterling. If there were an understanding some of this would be passed on to fishers, it didnÂÂÂt happen. After an unsuccessful court case, but due to fishers being wrongly advised, they were given an ÂÂÂex gratiaÂÂÂ payment, and those in authority washed their hands. But ÂÂÂex gratiaÂÂÂ implied they were only entitled to a charity payout, so in 1983 the British FishermanÂÂÂs Association was founded in the three ports. Later, I was appointed the Fleetwood chairman and chaired the national meetings. Our demand was simple, without being greedy. For each year of Icelandic service fishers should receive £1,000 per year up to a maximum of 20 years. We won the case in 2000, and up to now more than £3million has been received in the economically deprived port of Fleetwood alone. We had demonstrated that the fishers had been unjustly treated and now many families, who had suffered years of financial deprivation, received a ÂÂÂnest eggÂÂÂ. Also, due to a direct intervention by myself, we established that if the fisher had died in the meantime, his family would receive payment. The case highlighted the importance of the AoS as I was the only Committee member nationally who would not benefit from the scheme, and so any proposal put forward by me was treated with genuine respect ÂÂÂ the AoS was the honest broker when the process seemed to have broken down. Is it a hope for elsewhere? Appendix 2:- How up to date is this Paper?The paper is easy to write but how close does it correspond to reality? This ÂÂÂpaperÂÂÂ was written December 2001. The weekly Fishing News is the Bible of the fishing community in Britain. Looking at the edition 15 February 2002 the following were the main topics:
Appendix 3:- Fishing families at homeIn 1992 the first AoS British Fishing Seminar was held at Fleetwood. The highlight of the Meeting was the presentation of life in a fishing home by seven wives. They talked openly about
Reporting the Conference the local paper ÂÂÂ Evening Gazette ÂÂÂ had a Banner headline on the front page. Breadline Port Shock |
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