Socio-Economic Change, Contested Memories and the Cultural Re-configuration of Hull since the Decline of Distant-Water Trawling

在20世纪前四分之三的时间里，蒸汽拖网捕鱼仍然是赫尔经济和社会的重要组成部分，尽管经历了两次世界大战、大萧条和20世纪50年代和60年代沿海国家领海扩张的冲击。然而，在十年的时间里，赫尔对捕鱼的兴趣急剧减少，因为共同渔业政策（1972年）施加的限制，1973年和1974年石油危机期间燃料价格的上涨，以及1976年冰岛领土界限扩大到200英里，这些因素共同削弱了拖网捕鱼业的生存能力。到20世纪80年代中期，赫尔实际上已经处理掉了它的拖网渔船船队，这支船队几十年来一直是欧洲规模最大、产量最高的船队之一。该研究将评估1970年以来远洋拖网捕捞业的收缩对赫尔的社会和经济状况的影响程度，以及城市的文化地理，因为经济变化和当地规划政策使西赫尔紧密聚集的渔业社区和相关群体分散，以清除该地区的贫民窟住房。特别是，该研究将考虑这些变化如何影响赫尔前渔业社区、赫尔其他群体对城市及其历史的看法，以及赫尔身份的更正式、“官方”表述。它还将讨论赫尔对该行业及其遗产的社会记忆如何受到质疑和重新处理。这将提高我们对拖网业对赫尔的社会和文化的影响的理解，在“拖网镇”的居民和来自其他地方的人们的注视下，赫尔的拖网捕捞过去是如何塑造其形象的，以及赫尔海事博物馆过去、现在和未来的渔业展示。这项研究的重点是一个经历了迅速而深刻变化的行业，它将评估从事拖网捕捞的各机构所采取的战略。虽然有些人离开了这个行业，但其他人移居国外，在不同的渔场工作，还有一些人从事鱼类加工、贸易和零售。这种适应性策略的成功与否在经济衰退时期具有当代意义，特别是在赫尔，它往往比大多数地区受到商业衰退的影响更大。这项研究的另一个方面将是那些自20世纪60年代以来参与赫尔拖网捕捞业的人的回忆。拖网渔船船主、渔船船长、“甲板工”、技术专家、当地政治家和发展机构人员将接受采访，以评估“渔业社区”对其业务的重大转变、对他们以前紧密结合的社区的看法，以及他们随后在远离渔业码头周围空间集中的生活方式、身份和记忆方面的变化。赫尔海事博物馆是这个行业、它的社区和他们的历史最重要的公民表达。海事博物馆计划在未来几年内重新设计其关于远洋拖网捕捞业的常设展览。首先，他们需要确定哪些主题和话题在他们目前的展览和收藏中被省略了，以及哪些额外的主题应该在重新设计的展览中被包括或重新强调。因此，这项研究将直接应用于赫尔的远洋拖网捕捞行业，其相关的社会和文化地理，以及围绕这个社区和他们失去的行业的持续记忆和纪念问题。在短期内，这项研究将通过项目网站向公众开放，并将成为在赫尔海事博物馆举行的临时展览的基础

For the first three-quarters of the twentieth century, steam trawling remained an important facet of Hull's economy and society, despite the shocks of the two world wars, the Great Depression and the extension of the territorial waters of coastal states during the 1950s and 1960s. In the space of a decade, however, Hull's interest in catching fish contracted dramatically as the restrictions imposed by the Common Fisheries Policy (1972), the increase in fuel prices during the oil crises of 1973 and 1974, and the extension of Iceland's territorial limits to 200 miles in 1976 combined to undermine the trawling industry's viability. By the mid-1980s, Hull had virtually disposed of its trawling fleet, which had for decades been one of the largest and most productive in Europe.The research will assess the extent to which the contraction of the distant-water trawling industry from c. 1970 impacted upon the social and economic profile of Hull, and upon the cultural geographies of the city as the tightly-clustered fishing community and associated groups of West Hull were dispersed by economic change and local planning policies to clear the area's slum housing. In particular, the study will consider how the these changes impacted upon the perceptions of the city and its histories amongst the former fishing communities, other groups in Hull and the more formal, 'official' articulations of Hull's identity. It will also address how Hull's social memories of this industry and its legacies have been contested and re-worked subsequently. This will improve our understanding of the influence of the trawling industry on Hull's social and cultural complexion, the ways in which Hull's trawling past has shaped its image in the gaze of those who live in 'trawlertown' and people from elsewhere, and the representation of the fisheries in the past, present and future displays of Hull Maritime Museum. In focusing on an industry that experienced rapid, profound change, the research will assess the strategies adopted by the various agencies engaged in trawling. While some groups left the business, others moved abroad to work in different fisheries, and others diversified into fish processing, merchanting and retailing. The success or otherwise of such adaptive strategies has contemporary relevance in a period of economic recession, especially in Hull, which tends to suffer more than most areas from commercial downturns. A further aspect of the study will be the recollections of those involved in Hull's trawling industry since the 1960s. Trawler owners, trawler skippers, 'deckies', technical experts, local politicians and development agency personnel will be interviewed to gauge the views of the 'fishing community' on the major transformations of their businesses, upon their formerly tight-knit community, and upon their subsequent changes to lifestyle, identity and memory away from the spatial concentration around the fishing dock. Hull Maritime Museum is the most important civic articulation of this industry, its communities and their histories. The Maritime Museum aims to re-work its permanent exhibition on the distant-water trawling industry in the next few years. First, they need to establish what themes and topics are elided in their current exhibit and collections, and which additional themes should be included or re-emphasised in the re-vamped exhibition. This research will therefore find direct application in the representation of Hull's distant-water trawling industry, to its associated social and cultural geographies, and to the continuing issues of memory and commemoration that surrounds this community and their lost industry. In the shorter-term, this research will be accessible to the public through the project website, and it will form the basis of a temporary exhibition to be held at Hull Maritime Museum in the course of t