The "Skipper Effect": Riddles of Luck and Rhetorics of Individualism

Abstract

The unresolved effect debate of the 1980s and 1990s in maritime anthropology hinged upon a dispute over whether the learned skills and innate attributes of a commercial skipper influenced fishing success, measured in landed catch amounts, or whether success could be largely accounted for by boat size and other variables. In this paper, I argue that the questions raised in the debate would be served by considering that a significant source of fishing success is the result of the collective knowledge and synergistic efforts of a community of likeminded individuals rather than a continued search for the most effective way to isolate the achievements of lone operators. I argue that both shark fishermen1 in Bass Strait, Australia, as well as maritime anthropologists, allude to luck, chance, and other mystical explanations for fishing success or failure primarily in instances when no explanation for, or control over, success can be articulated. Further, I propose that references to luck and c...