Jahn Petter Johnsen

Pushed or pulled? Understanding fishery exit in a welfare society context

For a long time the number of fishers in Norway has declined. Is the decline the result of an increasingly difficult situation for Norwegian fishers or can other factors have had an impact? Or in other words: are fishers pushed out or pulled out of the fisheries? Our analyses are based on a survey among retired fishers and suggest several reasons for exit: in addition to structural push and pull factors we also find reasons that are connected more to change in social and cultural values than economic value. Our point is that we cannot understand why Norwegian fishers are leaving the fisheries without taking the broader societal context into consideration. Our results show that fisheries and marine industry policies for recruitment and employment will have to take the pull from other industries and the comprehensive welfare state into consideration.

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 Dynamics of Small-Scale Fisheries in Norway: From Adaptamentality to Governability

Interactive governance theory emphasizes the two-way exchange that occurs between the system-to-be-governed and the governing system. Thus, in the case of small-scale fisheries, the working hypothesis is that their governability, and hence their survival, depends on the ability and readiness of the governing system to respond to changes that occur within the system-to-be-governed and vice versa. It follows that governability of small-scale fisheries would be determined within both systems, as well as in the way they interact. Using Norway as a case study, this chapter argues that the governability of small-scale fisheries is dependent on the ability and willingness of fishers to respond not only to changes in the socio-ecological environment, but also to actions or reactions of the governing system. Their inclination to adapt, “adaptamentality”, is seen as the motivation for acquiring the necessary skills, knowledge and resources that make them able and prepared for change. It is argued that the institutional design of the governing system, as it has developed during the twentieth century, has been important for this adaptamentality, as it has facilitated constructive partnership with the government and generated mutual trust. Whether these qualities will remain with current institutional reforms, is a question that will be discussed.

Nordic experience of fisheries management. Seen in relation to the reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

The waters surrounding the Nordic countries are rich in fish resources. Up to this date fisheries has been among the most important productive sectors in the Nordic economies, and in the Faroe Isla ...

Transferable Quotas in Norwegian Fisheries

Since 1990, the Norwegian fisheries management system has gradually moved towards a market mode where quotas are bought and sold. The end goal of the system was unclear at the outset and developed incrementally in a way that the fish as opposed to the fisher was of key focus and concern, thus transforming previously open access groundfish fisheries into a closed rights-based system. Norwegian authorities were, however, not willing or able to move fully to a privatized ITQ system. The opposition to such a system was too strong and support for it reluctant at best. Instead, fisheries authorities played a balancing act between resource conservation, economic efficiency and regional distribution. This explains the outcome: an extremely complex system with numerous checks and balances in order to keep the market mechanism under control. How successful has this system been in riding these three horses? How much failure can this system handle before major reforms are necessary?