Norwegian fisheries and the basis of regional development

Abstract

Lindkvist, K. B. 1996. Norwegian fisheries and the basis of regional development. Norsk geogr. Tidsskr. Vol. 50, 171–186. Oslo. ISSN 0029-1951.

Ecological crises in the 1980s were accompanied by processes of change in the Norwegian fishery system. The spatial aspect of the system consists of both fishery-dependent communes and communes not dependent on fishery resources but with an extensive fish production. Modern fishery establishments in the towns are successfully including fish resources into their regional production systems, thereby affecting regional development and having serious ecological consequences. The use of modern catch technology in large ocean-going fishing vessels has proved to be an effective tool in competition for resources. In the most peripheral fishery communes characterized by a one-sided industrial structure and a strong dependency on fishing, one finds a culturally conditioned resistance among the most important actors in the industry against the use of large fishing vessels. Nor are they willing to accept other industrial changes. Other actors in these fishing communities seek to develop the tourist trade instead of concentrating all initiative on fisheries. Disagreement in the peripheral communes both on strategies and on views of reality lead to reduced local ability to make use of external or global processes. Thereby they lose in their fight for fish resources. The article concludes that fisheries are no longer able to contribute to regional development in the same way as before.