Fish as a ‘bridge’ connecting migrant fishers with the local community: findings from Okinawa, Japan

Migration is part of fishers’ livelihood strategies, and the topic of ‘migration and fisheries’ has gained considerable attention from researchers. Previous works identified negative and positive impacts of migrant fishers on local communities. However, little attention has been given to how social relationships are actually built between migrant fishers and local residents. This paper is based on observations of daily life and social connections in a coastal village in Okinawa, Japan and aims to fill this gap. It also provides a picture of how relationships between migrant fishers and host communities are built. Fieldwork yielded the following results. 1) Migrants moved to Okinawa in various phases; 2) Through their fishing activities, they have established good relationships with other fishers and non-fishing residents; 3) Sharing and selling fishery products has helped migrant fishers and their families gain socio-cultural knowledge and learn about the social conventions of the community, enabling them to integrate themselves into the social fabric of local community life.