%0 Journal Article %A Jesper Larsson %A Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja %T Freshwater Fishing Strategies in Early Modern Sami Households %D 2021 %R 10.3368/aa.57.2.197 %J Arctic Anthropology %P 197-211 %V 57 %N 2 %X Fish were absolutely necessary for survival for many households in preindustrial societies. Because fishing waters are considered a common-pool resource, it is difficult to exclude users, and the catch is subtractable. To learn what strategies were in place to avoid fish-stock depletion and secure continuous harvests, we investigated how Indigenous Sami households in Lule lappmark, Sweden, used low-productive freshwaters between 1660 and 1780. Our aim is to show how they conducted fishing and how it was linked to rules for fishing. Our sources are contemporary 17th- and 18th-century accounts and local court rulings. Rules for fishing were developed in a self-governance context. Users and fishing areas were well defined, and users often had exclusive rights to fish. Inheritance was important but not a sufficient prerequisite to obtain access. Our research covers a period during which abundant but low-yield fishing waters per household declined, making it more difficult to survive. %U https://aa.uwpress.org/content/wpaa/57/2/197.full.pdf