A university professor from Japan is packing quite a lot into her yearlong sabbatical in Newfoundland, exploring how people in rural parts of the province continue to make a living from the fishery.
Experienced when it comes to meeting people from small fishing communities throughout East Asia, Yinji Li usually finds the people she meets to be friendly, and says Newfoundland has been no exception.
“People say Newfoundlanders, they will cook all day for a neighbour in a crisis,” she said. “One day, my research can make things better in fishing communities.”
Li is an associate professor with the school of marine science and gechnology at Tokai University in Tokyo. She is a marine social scientist with a background in economics, fisheries science and marine science. Her research generally focuses on small-scale fisheries, looking at coastal fisheries governance, community-based management and capacity-building within the fishing community.
Li has been all over northeast Asia and has found that despite the importance of their work, people involved in the fishery tend to be marginalized. Her research takes a close look at the economic challenges these communities face and the opportunities they can latch onto or make better use of.
Her interest in the fishing industry was sparked by a trip she took as a post-secondary student to a fishing community in Japan, where she got a first-hand look at how people were building tourism opportunities out of local knowledge of the fishery.
“We experienced a lot of fishing stuff getting on the boat, the thrill of fishing. … We caught the fish, cooked the fish and that kind of thing,” she said. “And we supported them to run their business.”
She became aware of Newfoundland and Labrador after learning about a global research project called Too Big to Ignore (TBTI) headquartered in St. John’s. This partnership includes Memorial University and is dedicated to small-scale fisheries research. It has created a network of more than 400 members based in 81 countries. Among other subjects, TBTI promotes the concept of blue justice, which acknowledges the level of injustice small-scale fisheries have faced and the ongoing challenges present through poverty, food insecurity, access issues, gender inequity, resource depletion, habitat degradation and inequitable resource allocation.