Abstract: The research project Coastal Mapping reports from studies of the settlement structure and place in the coastal landscape of arctic Norway. The intention is to study the imprint of the fisheries on land. The coastal landscapes of Northern Norway display a historical continuity in the use of resources, the territory being part of and dependent on a European marked for dried fish for a thousand years. Today, the different coastal resources — the fisheries, sea-food production, oil and gas and minerals — are more attractive than ever and objects for both national and global contest between different economic interests. The production landscapes of both land and sea are challenged. The settlement structure — consisting of a multitude of fishing villages located at and harvesting from good natural harbors — marks the imprint of fisheries on land, the villages coping in different ways with the contemporary challenges. The investigation and the narratives covers the deep structure of landscape, the resources, the socio cultural niche construction and the socio-material layers of place. Contextual challenges to settlement and territorial organization are discussed. A future typology of fishing villages are suggested under the categories: recreational ruins, fading fishing villages, labor campsis, inventive hamlets and contemporary stabile villages. The article might be seen as a case study for a more general discussion of possible rural futures.