Uncommon Property describes Canadian West Coast fisheriesin the 1980s, focusing on the social and economic structure of theindustry. It is the product of a three-year research project conductedby the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University ofBritish Columbia.


Part 1 is concerned with the history of the industry, the role ofthe federal and provincial governments, international markets,significant differences in raw fish markets and their importance forthe fish processing sector, and the international context for BritishColumbia fisheries.


Part 2 considers the labour process. This includes chapters onshoreworkers and fishers, with descriptions of their characteristicsand working conditions. It also examines their history of organization,the special place of native Indians in the fishery, and the perspectiveof history by the Union of Fishermen and Allied Workers' UnionNewspaper.


Part 3 considers fishing communities: their viability when they aredependent on a diminishing resource and their responses to resourcedepletion.


This study offers readers unique insights into the complex problemsof fishing industries in which competing interests are attempting tofind solutions to unresolvable contradictions.