Social sustainability in aquaculture governance - from general statements to practical politics

Salmon farming affects - and is affected by - a number of societal interests. Thus, sustainable salmon farming must take into consideration the societal and social impacts of the production. Sustainable growth is frequently emphasized as an essential premise in policy documents and regulations, also when it comes to social sustainability. However, defining what social sustainability entails and how it is achieved, is no easy task. The project aimed to understand how social sustainability is understood and facilitated by industry actors, interests in local communities and governing bodies in relation to salmon farming, both in Norway and Canada. The project interviewed employees in salmon farming companies, residents in local communities affected by salmon farms, and selected governance authorities. As a part of the project, an 11-month research visit to University of British Columbia, Vancouver, was performed. The findings indicate that there are several differences between Norwegian and Canadian aquaculture governance when it comes to incorporating social considerations. Particularly, this applies to siting salmon farms, where the Norwegian municipalities are responsible for designating space through their spatial planning, which includes near-shore waters. These local legally binding spatial plans have no parallel in Canada. Thus, the Norwegian spatial planning constitutes an important arena for debating societal interests in relation to salmon farming. Further, the study shows different understandings of what social sustainability means and that discussing the social as an isolated factor is somewhat problematic. While some people talk about HSE, employment, ripple effects or companies? economic support for local communities, others make close connections between social sustainability and environmental impact of salmon farming, which we often understand as environmental sustainability. This relates to local communities? opportunities to harvest natural resources and demonstrates that debating socio-economic conditions are not necessarily enough. We need to talk about socio-ecologic relations as well.

Det er krevende å vurdere langsiktige endringer. Møter med aktører i forvaltning og næring kan ha bidratt til mer bevissthet om sosiale hensyn, hva sosial bærekraft er og hvordan det best kan oppnås. Etter hvert som resultater fra prosjektet blir tilgjengelig, kan dette gi nye oppfatninger om hva bærekraftig lakseoppdrett innebærer, som på sikt kan gi endringer i praksis og politikk. På kort sikt har prosjektet hatt en dokumentert virkning. I Canada presenterte jeg norsk havbruksforvaltning til et utvalg eksperter og brukere som skulle gi råd til provinsmyndighetene i British Columbia. Flere av poengene ble tatt inn i utvalgets anbefalinger, spesielt angående løsninger for åpenhet rundt rapporteringer og tilgjengeliggjøring av informasjon, i tillegg til kystsoneplanleggingens rolle i tildelingen av areal til næringen og mulighetene dette gir for lokal innflytelse. Forskningsoppholdet i Canada har også bidratt til økt internasjonalt forskningssamarbeid og derigjennom kompetanseheving.

Aquaculture production affects - and is affected by - a number of societal interests. In Norway, aquaculture seems to have a low social acceptance. Sustainable aquaculture production therefore needs to take into account also the societal effects of the aquaculture activities. Official policies and regulations clearly state that growth in the industry needs to be sustainable, also when it comes to social matters. Despite this, the concept of social sustainability is underdeveloped and less discussed in the literature. This project aims to explore how the involved actors and stakeholders understand social sustainability in relation to aquaculture, given that this concept is hard to define and operationalise, yet still a requirement that needs to be fulfilled. The project will focus on salmon production in Norway, with special weight given to governance processes, and in particular, the allocation of space to fish farms. For comparison, case studies will be conducted in Canada in order to identify similarities and differences in the way social sustainability is conceptualised and managed in Norway and Canada. While the main question to be answered through this project is how socially sustainable aquaculture is understood and facilitated by the various actors in the governance system and the-system-to-be-governed, three research areas with associated research questions have been specified: 1.The regulatory system: How do rules and regulations facilitate socially sustainable aquaculture? How is management done in practice, i.e., how do sector agencies, regional and local bodies operate within the framework set by the regulatory system? 2.Industry actors: How do fish farming companies perceive social sustainability, and what do these companies do in order to achieve a socially sustainable aquaculture production? 3.Stakeholders: Which groups are included in decision-making processes, and how?