Bjørn Hersoug

Not by Rent Alone: Analysing the Pro-Poor Functions of Small-Scale Fisheries in Developing Countries

The dominant view in academic and policy arenas is increasingly one in which the major contribution of capture fisheries to development should be derived from the capacity of society to maximise the economic rent of fishery resources. Drawing upon empirical experience from the South, this article highlights the potentially disastrous consequences that a universal implementation of the rent-maximisation model would have in developing countries, and argues that a more gradual approach would be preferable. The welfare function of small-scale fisheries, namely, their capacities to provide labour and cash income to resource-poor households, should be preserved until the appropriate macroeconomic conditions for rent-maximisation and redistribution are fulfilled.

The globalization of the fishing industry and the case of Finnmark

The Norwegian fishing industry is in the lucky situation that the quotas increase. Russian catches are delivered in Northern Norway and the aquaculture industry has had a tremendous growth over the last five years. Nevertheless, several sectors of the fishing industry are experiencing crises, especially in Finnmark, the most fishery dependent county. This paradox is explained by looking at the driving forces behind the globalization of the white fish industry, and the local effects, as they are experienced in the fishery dependent communities. The central process is a decoupling of various local economic activities. As each of the economic actors have tried their own optimizing strategies, an increasing fragmentation and instability is brought into the local communities. If the fishing industry is to be in a position to contribute to employment and settlement in coastal Finnmark in the future, a stronger market orientation among all local actors is necessary.

What is good for the fishermen, is good for the nation: co-management in the Norwegian fishing industry in the 1990s

Abstract This paper analyses the concept of ‘co-management’ and tries to explain why co-management has recently become important to different types of fisheries administration. A preliminary analytical framework is sketched, before going on to describe the Norwegian co-management system, known as ‘centrally directed consultation’, where fishermens representatives are established on a wide range of organisations that exert a direct influence on fisheries policy, including not only quota management but grant aid, sales, research and education. The final section is devoted to the lessons that may be learned from the Norwegian experience, bearing in mind the particular background of Norway and its historical setting.

The creation of coastal space – how local ecological knowledge becomes relevant

Since the 1990s, substantial efforts have been invested in Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) research, but LEK has only been applied in western fisheries and resource management to a limited extent. The attempts to link LEK to model-based fish stock assessment seem to have failed largely because the format of LEK does not fit into the models currently in use. However, LEK is still relevant for natural resource management. This article approaches LEK from a different position, not as knowledge about fish stocks but as a constituent in the creation of coastal space as a management object. Through the description of procedures and practices for collection, mapping and authorisation of LEK in Norway, the article illustrates how LEK can potentially become a central element in fisheries and coastal management by using the construction of coastal space as a core management object. As the article will show, the translation of users’ experiences into formal knowledge (LEK) about specific activities in certain localities imbues the coastal space with formerly unknown properties and contributes to turning it into a more complex management object. Thus, the article illustrates that LEK becomes relevant for management when it is presented in a format that fits into the frames of reference used in coastal zone management.

Local empowerment through the creation of coastal space

Developments in national fisheries and marine environmental policies during the last 30 years have changed the relationship between coastal communities and the marine resources that people in these communities traditionally harvested. In Norway, for example, when the state authorities have made decisions to defend what they regard as national interests, the local level has been left with authority over minor issues related to area planning in the coastal zone. Although coastal planning until recently was about sharing fishing areas between different users, we now see a spatial dimension emerging in planning, giving it a much broader scope. The processes of defining spatial properties and creating coastal space as a governable object have the potential to empower local communities. These processes contribute to enhanced local control and improved local participation in the governance of natural resources. In Norway, the 2008 Planning and Building Act strengthened the role of municipalities in local planning. In addition, the application of a new three-dimensional, spatial approach to coastal planning may create opportunities for new control over local resources. In marine spatial planning (MSP) the natural resources are seen as part of coastal spatial properties; thus, governing of sea space implies resource governance. As our examples illustrate, considerable power is associated with the ability to identify and define the properties of coastal space. MSP could become an important tool for controlling local resources, rebuilding collapsed fisheries, and managing them sustainably at the level of municipalities.

The system of Norwegian fish sales unions – An anachronism or a successful adaptation to modern fisheries?

ABSTRACT The Norwegian system of mandatory sales unions with monopoly powers to fix minimum ex-vessel prices, protected by law, has for years attracted much interest, ranging from contempt to admiration. How is it that a system invented during the economic crisis in the late 1930s has survived and thrived, even in an era of increasing globalization and free market reforms? The paper gives a brief history of the system and examines how it has changed, developed and been contested since its establishment in 1938. Special emphasis is placed on the Norwegian Raw Fish Association (NRA), which is the largest of the Norwegian fish sales unions. With a conservative-liberalist coalition government since 2013, the system has again been questioned, and the paper discusses whether the Fish Sales Unions Act and the sales unions will survive in the future.