Lyn giving a presentation at the ‘TBTI Day’, held in July of 2017 at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Evelyn (Lyn) Pinkerton was a maritime anthropologist and a professor at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. Throughout her life, she worked in fishing communities in Washington State, Alaska, and British Columbia. Lyn’s contribution has been numerous, and among them she is particularly well known for integrating common property theory and cultural/political ecology to consider the role communities play in the management of adjacent renewable natural resources. She has played a key role in developing the theory and practice of power-sharing and stewardship through co-management agreements.
Lyn has been a member of TBTI since its inception in 2012. She co-led the working group ‘Defending the Beach’ and the ‘SSF Rights’ research cluster, which looked at the types of mechanisms required to secure livelihoods, physical space and rights for small-scale fishing people. The work involved spatial and temporal analysis of traditional uses, territorial rights, ownership, mobility, migration patterns, and power relations.
Her invaluable knowledge on fisheries co-managements was instrumental in bringing forth several major TBTI publications, including special issues on ‘Neoliberalism and North American Small-Scale Fisheries’ & ‘Neoliberalism and global small-scale fisheries’ as well as a chapter on ‘Strategies and Policies Supporting Small-Scale Fishers’ Access and Conservation Rights in a Neoliberal World’.
Lyn believed in importance of small-scale fishing communities constructing alternatives to neoliberalism and was committed to defending the rights of fishing communities. For her 2016 TBTI Profile, she was asked about the most significant factors for securing sustainability of small-scale fisheries. She replied by saying the following:
“Strong leadership by an energy centre, or a team, who don’t give up and keep pushing their organizations and communities to form the internal bonds and the external alliances needed to have a strong voice, to make and implement the fishing rules, defend their territory, etc.”
Evelyn Pinkerton gave a talk on ‘Getting the Owner-Operator in West Coast Fisheries’, a chapter in the TBTI E-book “Thinking Big about Small-Scale Fisheries in Canada” co-authored by Jim McIsaac, as part of the ‘Think Solutions’ event at the UBC on December 21, 2023.
As the co-lead of TBTI Working Group ‘Defending the Beach’ (together with Reade Davis), Lyn highlighted the need to protect the rights of small-scale fisheries, using examples in North America. The presentation was part of the 2016 TBTI webinar ‘Let’s talk about SSF Rights and Access’.
Lynn was a good friend and passionate advocate of empirical research and social justice. She was also the first fisheries social scientist I am aware of to use the concept of co-management, which arose through her work with First Nations in BC, Canada. She invited other scholars, including myself, to contribute to her 1989 book on co-management, pushing all of us to consider what this meant and to incorporate it into our work in other fisheries contexts, which eventually influenced policy in many ways and places. The book: E. Pinkerton (Ed.) Co-operative management of local fisheries: New direction in improved management and community development University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, British Columbia. This was just one of her many contributions, and we shall miss her terribly.
Evelyn Pinkerton was a wonderful friend and colleague. I am deeply saddened by her passing. During the years we knew each other I, like so many others, often stayed at her home when visiting Vancouver. These visits gave us the opportunity to chat and exchange ideas about our fisheries-related research. We did this over simple but delicious meals, often consisting of ingredients from her garden. During one visit, I had my first migraine headache and, as a result, ended up missing my flight home. She took care of me, found me a doctor and watched over me until I recovered. This is, I am sure, just one illustration of the kindness, generosity and engagement that was the foundation of her life and work. In addition to being an accomplished and wonderful scholar and teacher, Evelyn was also an excellent and dedicated folk musician. I had a chance to watch her perform once on a visit to our home in St. John’s. The politics that informed her life also informed her choice of music and the lyrics in her work. With her passing, we have lost a vital light source from within our intellectual and artistic communities; I know, however, that that light continues to shine through her work, her former students and the communities she helped build.
I was saddened by the news about Evelyn’s passing. I was aware that she was very ill, and it did not come as a surprise. Still, when it happens, you are left with sorrow. I knew here from the late 1980s when she contacted me while I spent my sabbatical in Auburn, Alabama. But I cannot remember the first time we met in person and how many times it happened. The last time we communicated was in March of this year.
Lyn and I had something in common; we were both interested in fisheries co-management. She had read my work, and I had read hers when we first spoke. Some people have said that I am the father of co-management, which I know isn’t true. But there cannot be a baby without a mother, and the mother of co-management was Lyn.
As I write this, I pick her book on co-management out of my shelf. It is now a classic. While I had written some papers on co-management, she had written a big book. Her book should be read and referred to because it was the first one on the topic. When you write about co-management, you should know that you stand on her shoulders.
I met her at conferences around the world. The last time must have been at the second TBTI world small-scale fisheries conference in Merida, Mexico in 2014. I also met up with her at a meeting in her hometown Vancouver at a fisheries meeting. Then she invited us, Larry Felt from Memorial University and me, to her home after we had seen a Garrison Keillor show together. We were all great fans of his ‘reports’ from his fictional Lake Wobegon town in Minnesota. I loved it because of his humorous satire of Norwegian residents.
Lyn was a lovely person and a great scholar. I am proud of having published with her. I am truly sorry that I will never meet her again. I will always be grateful for having had her as a colleague and friend. Lyn’s contribution to our community will outlast her. She will be dearly missed, but she will live on in her work, which we can always look up in the library or on the internet. Then, she will not be gone away. We will keep her alive in our memories and in the use of her work. May she rest in peace.
I first met Lyn at a Coastal Fisheries conference in late 1992 in Port Alberni, the focus was on protecting coastal fisheries for rural coastal communities, Lyn was one of the keynote speakers. We travelled back to Vancouver together spending the entire time arguing on the decentralization of our coastal fisheries. Since then we worked together on numerous papers, studies, and research initiatives, and at least one book. Although the challenges today look larger than 30 years ago, she never gave up! Last year we finished a paper framing the current challenges facing west coast fisheries.
She never let her failing health get in the way of her work, continuing to respond to colleagues until just days before passing.
Lyn’s core values, caring about the coast, coastal communities, coastal fisheries, and the people that live and work in them, aligned closely with mine. She was a very smart lady, she has left a wonderful research legacy that will be used for a very long time. Perhaps more important is her teaching and mentoring legacy, she has influenced generations of fisheries experts on the importance of social science in fisheries management. She will be dearly missed.
Lyn Pinkerton was a remarkable friend and mentor. She was a true leader in the field of fisheries and community management. Her work was driven by a deep commitment to collaborative approaches that empowered communities. Lyn’s contributions helped shaped the field of community-based management, and her ability to bridge academia with practical application set her apart. Beyond her impressive body of work, Lyn was known for her generosity in sharing knowledge and offering thoughtful guidance. Her unwavering dedication left a lasting impact on all of us who had the privilege of working alongside her. Lyn’s legacy will continue to inspire those of us who carry forward her vision for more equitable and sustainable resource management. She has been an important part of our lives for more than three decades and she will be deeply missed.