Science and Social License: Defining Environmental Sustainability of Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture in South-Eastern Tasmania, Australia

Abstract

Social license reflects environmental and social change, and sees community as an important stakeholder and partner. Science, scientists, and science policy have a key role in the processes that generate social license. In this paper, we focus on the interaction between science and social license in salmon aquaculture in south-eastern Tasmania. This research suggests that social license will be supported by distributed and credible knowledge co-production. Drawing on qualitative, interpretive social research we argue that targeted science, instilled by appropriate science policy, can underpin social license by supporting emerging, distributed, and pluralistic knowledge production. Where social license is important and environmental contexts are complex, such knowledge production might support environmental governance, and so improve outcomes in coastal zone management and beyond.

Keywords:

• Science Policy
• Environmental Governance
• Legitimacy
• Trust

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the CSIRO Coastal Collaboration Cluster with funding from the CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund. The Coastal Collaboration Cluster is an Australian research program designed to enable more effective dialog between knowledge-makers and decision-makers in Australia’s coastal zone, and to thereby contribute to coastal sustainability in Australia. We would also like to thank all participants in this research.

Notes

1 The Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture Sub-program of the FRDC is the mechanism by which research priorities are identified. The sub-program is chaired by the CEO of the TSGA. There is no formal mechanism for identification or prioritization of public interests in these arrangements.

2 Research was conducted under approval from the University of Tasmania Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee, Approval H0011168 “Clearing the path for science impact …”.

3 A total of 18 participants were recruited from the four broad groups: state government, industry, community and science. Participants from government were employees of the Marine Farming Branch (MFB) (n = 4). From industry individuals involved broadly in environmental management from across the three companies operating in the south were recruited (n = 5). The community was taken broadly to include peak bodies (n = 1); community members with a demonstrated interest in aquaculture from Kingborough (n = 1) and the Huon Valley (n = 1) (Figure 1), ENGOs (n = 1), a member of Tasmania’s Aboriginal communities with a demonstrated interest in management of the waterways of south-eastern Tasmania (n = 1). Scientists (n = 4) were recruited across fields relevant to salmon aquaculture including fish health and production. Following transcription and a narrative analysis of the interviews, focusing on boundary work (see previous section), a discussion paper was prepared and a workshop held with participants in which the research team presented the major narratives in order to facilitate a discussion about what these might mean for the future of environmental research in the sector. Eleven participants from across the groupings attended the workshop. A final workshop report was sent to all participants. One participant requested that the workshop report be made available to other interested parties, and we asked all workshop participants to agree to this request. They did so after providing feedback on the report which provided useful additional qualitative “data”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peat Leith

Peat Leith is a research fellow and convenor of the Science for Society and Policy Program at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania (UTAS).

Emily Ogier

Marcus Haward is a professor at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at UTAS. He has written widely on fisheries, ocean, and Antarctica governance and policy. His most recent books are: (with Fred Gale) Global Commodity Governance: State Responses to Sustainable Forest and Fisheries Certification (Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire, 2011), and (with Tom Griffiths) Australia and the Antarctic Treaty System: 50 Years of Influence (University of New South Wales Press: Sydney, 2009).

Marcus Haward

Emily Ogier is a social and institutional researcher and Research Fellow at IMAS, UTAS.