Sustainable Future for the Aquaculture Industry: Local Legitimacy, Area Access and Strategies to Manage Controversy in the Coastal Zone

The ManAqua-project was developed to analyse how Norwegian municipalities facilitate and allocate area to aquaculture. A critical factor for the future development of the industry is access to the coastal zone. In this regard, local support is particularly vital as municipalities hold the key to area planning and allocation. An increasingly negative reputation of the aquaculture sector seems to intensify controversies and conflicts with other stakeholders in coastal communities. Also, there is a trend of coastal municipalities becoming more reluctant to facilitate for aquaculture in their areas. This project provides in-depth studies of local communities, local decision-making, and strategies of Norwegian aquaculture companies in their effort to gain access to new areas for aquaculture production. The analytical perspective of the project concentrate on the various mechanisms affecting public support and legitimacy related to all three dimensions of industry sustainability, i.e., environmental, social and economic sustainability. Findings from a case study of local opposition in a municipality, shows that the political responses to the expansion of the industry to a large extent is connected to how people see their relation to nature, to the environment. Securing a viable future in these communities does not only involve work places and economic gains, but also how one relates to nature, and importantly; how nature fills a particular position in people?s lives that is deeply rooted in a notion of nature as something pristine, untouched, pure. Thus, the domestification of a fish has challenged, indeed threatened, people?s relation to nature, and its place in their lives ? a threat that has been the basis for a political position that has gained momentum in the municipality the last few years. The industry is experiencing local criticism and opposition related to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of aquaculture. We have studied how the industry work to gain and maintain social acceptance in their host municipalities through so called corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. We have analyzed what CSR strategies companies adopt and the results of these strategies in terms of preventing and solving problems concerning access to production sites in the coastal zone. A main finding concentrate on the need for companies to adapt their strategies to the highly varying local contexts, and the importance of proactive strategies involving a shift towards deeper, more systematic involvement with local stakeholders. The study of municipal company relations has revealed big variation. Where some relations are characterized by case-to-case contact, other companies have built more or less formal networks or partnerships with the municipalities, addressing environmental, economic and social dimensions to improve their legitimacy and gain acceptance in their host municipalities. We have also seen a change over time. Especially in cases of conflict and/or lack of access to new production sites we see that companies have become more proactive and seek to build long term relations with the municipalities along the mentioned dimensions. Through the study, therefore, we have identified factors affecting the attitudes towards aquaculture in municipal-Norway and strategies used to improve the industry?s legitimacy.

The project provides in-depth studies of local communities and decision-making, in particular the strategies of Norwegian municipalities with regard to planning and allocation of areas for aquaculture. Also, responses to the various criticisms raised agai nst aquaculture on a business/industry level and by governmental entities at different levels of aquaculture management will be addressed. The analytical perspective of the project concentrate on mechanisms affecting public support and legitimacy related to all three dimensions of industry sustainability i.e., environmental, social and economic sustainability, and the interrelation between these.