Problems of Legitimacy in the Management of Norwegian Wild Salmon

Abstract

"Public management of natural resources has problems with legitimacy. One reason for this can be that regulations often imply a decrease in rights for user groups. To secure biological variation, there is often a need to reduce or stop catches of endangered species. Despite plausible reasons being offered from public environmental authorities, regulations meet considerable opposition. The international treaties to keep biological diversity are only first tested substantially at a local level.

"The situation for Atlantic salmon is critical. In Norway a third of salmon rivers are vulnerable, threatened or wiped out. The paper aims to describe how this situation is being handled in Norway. Management of scarce natural resources does not usually happen without tension arising, and in some cases it can also lead to open conflicts. To illustrate this, I will present some case studies of attempts to regulate fishing of wild salmon and to prevent establishment of fish-farming industry in North-Norwegian fjords.

"The paper will analyse the political game of managing wild salmon in Norway. The focus is on fjords, since this area is at present most influenced by trial of regulations, debate and conflicts. My main questions will be: What types of regulations are chosen by the government to protect the stocks of wild salmon? Who is in favour of and who is against the various types of regulations? Which channels are used to influence the decisions? Do the different interest groups which have been regulated have any influence on the decisions taken? Will decentralisation have an effect on the legitimacy of salmon management?"