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Two hours north of Aberdeen, Rosehearty is one in a cluster of small Scottish fishing communities on the edge of the North Sea. Battered by the dark waters that have caused untold losses of boats and men, the people here have long accepted a cruel bargain: the ocean gives fishermen their livelihood but it also owns a claim — redeemable at any time — on their lives. Forced to be stoic, they came to believe that no man could be blamed for the sea's wrath.

But this is changing. In a town where hearts once stood firm against nature's capriciousness, a lawsuit now demands human accountability. On April 10, 2002, a fishing boat called the Radiant foundered in the North Atlantic. Its life craft capsized, and only one of six life jackets inflated properly, an official investigation revealed. One man died, while five others huddled for hours in frigid waters before a rescue helicopter saved them. Scotland's highest civil court is now preparing to hear a $2 million claim against the boat's owners and skipper. The plaintiffs, William Beedie and Shaun Downie, survived, but are demanding compensation for lost wages and psychological trauma.

Beedie, 32, a fisherman since he was 16, sits awkwardly in his living room amid a mess of pink toys, dolls and DVDs belonging to his three young daughters. He was reared in a code of strength and guts, yet now he speaks of being "spooked by the sea." His lawsuit claims he was so traumatized by the sinking that he could not return to fishing and was left unemployed. "They used to say the boats were made of stick and the men were made of steel," he says. "That's not how it is anymore. Men aren't as tough as they used to be. But there needs to be recourse. That's why we have laws and courts."

Launched in 2001, the Radiant was one of Scotland's newest fishing boats, with the highest safety rating available. But when its nets became tangled with a seabed obstruction, its powerful winches anchored it to the seabed, causing the craft to list and take on water, according to a government report. The lawsuit contends that the skipper failed to correct the problem, though he and the boat's owners all deny liability.

The belief that the sea has its own rules which need obeying still holds sway in communities like Rosehearty. Fishermen shake their heads to learn that the Radiant was launched on a Friday the 13th. To locals inclined to this traditional way of thinking, the idea of litigating over an accident at sea is unimaginable. Beedie says he's been verbally attacked and told his lawsuit is "disgraceful." Alex Smith, a skipper from nearby Arbroath, says the case could spell the end of a time-honored code of conduct that requires fishermen to respect their skippers. "Suing because you are upset?" says Smith. "If they win, it will turn the whole system on its head."

Indeed, even Beedie's own family seems ambivalent about the suit. He and Downie, his 22-year-old fellow plaintiff, both come from a long line of fishermen, and their fathers were together on a boat that sank in 1980. Nobody died in that wreck, and nobody thought to file a compensation claim. They returned to sea the following week. Today, stiff, stooped and grimacing as he makes a pot of tea, Beedie's father Willie struggles to answer when asked how he feels about his son's case. "You want what's best for your son and for your grandchildren," he says, but he adds: "Fishing is not an easy life. My son knew that." His wife, Rhoda Beedie, echoes him: "You can't trust the sea, you can't."

No matter the outcome of his case, the younger Beedie has turned away from the the sea once and for all. When his last daughter was born, he celebrated. Three girls, no fishermen. Asked whether he, heir to generations of fishers, is concerned that his case could unravel an ancient code, Beedie pauses. "It's already gone," he says. "There's so little left to save."

• EBEN HARRELL
• For centuries, no North Sea fisherman would think of blaming — let alone suing — another for a tragedy at sea. But the old ways are dying. Tradition and litigation at odds