Fisherherders

Fisherherders are communities or households that combine fishing and animal husbandry as their primary livelihoods. The term describes a mixed livelihood system in which fish products and livestock products are produced for both personal use and sale, with practices adapted to seasonal resource availability and market conditions.

Typically, fisherherding involves a cycle of fishing during open-water seasons and livestock grazing or migration during other periods. People may herd reindeer, sheep, goats, or yaks alongside small-scale fishing on rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. The arrangement enables risk diversification—if one resource declines, the other can sustain households. Shelter, transport, and gear are often portable to support seasonal mobility between fishing sites and pasturelands.

Geographically, fisherherding is associated with inland and coastal regions of Arctic and subarctic zones in Eurasia and North America, where communities access both aquatic ecosystems and expansive grazing lands. Cultures that practice this mixed livelihood typically rely on traditional ecological knowledge and kin-based social networks to manage resource use, seasonal timing, and sharing arrangements. Gender roles commonly assign primary responsibility for different tasks, with men focusing on fishing and herding tasks, and women contributing through fish processing, dairy, and trade.

In contemporary contexts, fisherherders face pressures from climate change, stock depletion, land and water rights conflicts, and market volatility. Policy support that recognizes mixed livelihoods, sustainable resource management, and adaptive governance can help maintain resilience. Fisherherding illustrates how communities adapt traditional practices to changing environments while sustaining both ecological and economic livelihoods.