Fishing Lives, from the Local to the Global: State and Citizens in Soviet Western Georgia

• In Event: Soviet and Post-Soviet Histories of Fishing: Environments and Knowledge between the Local and Global

Abstract

Fish constituted an important repository of meaning as well as a food source and addition to the everyday economies of Western Georgians. Oral interviews with fishers and families in villages, mountain regions and the city of Poti divulged poignant memories, from childhood to retirement. Fishing was a widespread leisure activity but became a career for many who sailed the Black Sea or across the Atlantic, from their base in Poti, to Spain, Newfoundland and South America. I will examine how fish, and fishing, intersected with local culture and economies. With a focus on my interview subjects, I will also engage Soviet state efforts to control fish supplies, from the environmental agency Goskompriroda to the Georgian fish association (Gruzrybprom). Fish emerged as a tension point between above and below; decades after the USSR, Georgian citizens recalled above all the personal, community and local meanings of their fishing lives.

Author

• Jeff Sahadeo, Carleton U (Canada)