According to Labour Canada, workers in the offshore fishery are more likely to be injured than workers in mining, construction, or forestry. Yet until recently these casualties at sea have been largely ignored by government and labour organizations. Risks, Dangers, and Rewards in the Nova Scotia Offshore Fishery describes the hidden cost paid by workers in the Nova Scotia offshore fishery, a cost measured not in dollars and cents but in deaths and injuries. In this comprehensive study Marian Binkley documents the level of risk and assesses the general health and stress level of workers in the Nova Scotia offshore fishery. She considers shipboard working environment; stress; accidents, injuries, and general health; safety awareness; job satisfaction and family life; and the impact on working conditions of government resource policies and companies' scientific management strategies. Using statistical analysis, participant observation, surveys, and interviews, Binkley establishes that factors such as technological developments, management changes, and home and community life affect the immediate work experience of fishers and can increase the dangers of an already hazardous occupation.

Marian Binkley is Professor of Anthropology and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Dalhousie University.

Marian Binkley's profile page

"An extremely well-researched and well-written book. The interviews enhance reader interest, allow for theoretical adjustments and elaborations, and provide policy makers with the sort of 'human' material that will hopefully provoke progressive legislation." Roberta Hamilton, Sociology, Queen's University.