Touring exhibition will give voice to coastal communities
A major new multi-media exhibition will showcase the voices of people from coastal communities across Scotland about their perspectives on sustainability and hopes for the future of our seas.
The Our Seas Coalition has gathered testimonies from a diverse range of people all around the country about their first-hand experiences of Scotland’s inshore seas. Commissioned in 2023, photographer Katerina Barvirova visited over 60 people from all eleven Scottish marine regions, including coastal businesses, commercial fishermen, sea anglers, politicians, naturalists, scientists, community groups, artists, and those with recreational interests. Each person gave a verbal testimony about their own connections to the sea. Alongside a series of thought-provoking portraits, these testimonies provide the foundation for a striking visual exhibition.
The testimonies include moving witness-style accounts of changes that have been observed during people’s lifetimes, and reflections on how our seas are managed, the condition of our environment and the importance of sustainability.
My one request to politicians about management of the sea would be: put local people first. Let their voices be heard, let them have the opportunity to become responsible for which they have not been able to be responsible for in the recent decades when technology and legislative changes have taken control out of their hands.
Alistair McIntosh, writer, campaigner, a founding trustee of the Galgael Trust, Govan, Glasgow
I feel that we should have more influence on how the marine environment is managed. I think it’s neglected enormously by governments. A lot of things are out of sight, out of mind, in the marine environment; so it’s difficult to get people to engage with it and want to conserve the life within it. I don’t think I’m able to have a good enough impact on conserving the marine environment, even though I’ve spent my life’s work working to conserve it. So that’s pretty damning, isn’t it?
Liza Cole, wildlife guide, Eyemouth Berwickshire
My hopes for any of my children if they want to follow in my footsteps and their forefathers’ footsteps is it will be an industry to follow into. But in my lifetime, I have seen all sorts of inshore fisheries collapse. So unless we do something about it very soon, I find it very difficult that they’ll have a future in the fishing industry here because there won’t be a fishing industry left.
Ian McWhinney, fisherman, Badachro, Wester Ross
In the early stages of the project, the Our Seas Coalition commissioned Survation to conduct two public surveys – one national online survey and one regional telephone poll in coastal towns and villages – to explore public attitudes towards Scotland’s seas and fisheries.
86% of respondents thought the way that Scotland’s fish populations are managed is important for the resilience and viability of coastal communities. This increased to 95% from the regional telephone poll.
40% of respondents in the national survey thought the health of Scotland’s fisheries has declined in the past 20 years, but this was markedly higher in coastal areas, increasing to 67% of all respondents to the regional poll of villages and towns such as Eyemouth, Fraserburgh, Kinlochbervie, Kirkcudbright, Lochinver, Oban, Portree, Stonehaven, Troon, Ullapool, and Wick.
The primary focus of the Coastal Testimonies project is to promote a better understanding of inshore environmental and fisheries issues through the collection of personal accounts and inspire greater dialogue and action within communities.”
The testimonies speak for themselves. It is moving to read the deep respect and understanding that people have for their seas. Our surveys suggest that concern about the condition of our ocean is actually already highest in coastal communities, because they are closest to the many issues facing our marine environment. However, coastal communities are often marginalised in decision-making. It is so important that decision-makers listen to the people living close to the sea, people in communities who see changes through the generations and want to see better political decisions.
This project is all about empowering people within their communities to speak up, share their first-hand experiences and talk with each other about how to safeguard the precious interconnections between people and the life in our sea. We all rely upon the sea, but we have a duty to look after what provides for us. Understanding is the first step towards action.We encourage anyone to get involved, be it a community organisation or local business, you can host an event or contribute a testimony of your own. Please get in touch. – Hayley Wolcott, Coordinator of the Our Seas Coalition
The exhibition has been commissioned and curated by the Our Seas Coalition, an alliance of 140+ coastal businesses, community groups, fishermen’s associations and environmental organisations who are campaigning for the environmental recovery of Scotland’s coastal marine environment and the revival of sustainable inshore fisheries. The ‘Coastal Testimonies Project’ will be touring various locations across Scotland in the coming months and community organisations are being invited to host the exhibition in their local area.
Click here for more info on the ‘Coastal Testimonies’ project
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