When Fishermen Decide, Co-managing Local Resources, User Conflict and Regulatory Decision-making in Fjord Fisheries: A Case Study

• Main Author: Sagdahl, Bjorn K.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: fisheries; IASC; co-management; conflict; regulation; indigenous institutions; property rights; Sámi (European people); Water Resource & Irrigation; Norway; Nordland; sami; Sámi
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10535/2111

"In the Norwegian fisheries there is a long line of conflicts over access and exploitation of local resource systems, located to fjords or inshore waters adjacent to local communities. Local user groups have often had to compete with ex-locals exploiting seasonal or stationary resources, mostly coming out as losers due to differences in gear equipments, drifting patterns and catch capacities. More or less it is a conflict between mobile, specialized and capitalized fishing versus local, diversified drifting patterns using traditional and less capitalized technology. "Over the last decades the local fjord fishermen have diminished both in number and in political importance whereas local fish resources have become increasingly important due to declining access and dwindling resources both nationally and internationally. Along with increased competition over accessible resources, local resource systems tend to become less local in regulatory terms. Local regulations favouring local user groups are hard to come by and conflicts come to the force as the pressure on local ecosystems arises. "This study will focus on such local conflicts, drawing upon some developmental lines in fjord fisheries. What are the characteristics of the fishing taking place in fjord systems and why are conflicts still vivid after so many years of public regulations? How has the public authorities organized and responded to local regulatory needs and claims? What are the prospects for functional maintenance of local resource systems and their public recognition as local systems? These are some of the questions for discussion. The study will draw upon recent experiences from a local fjord fishing conflict in Nordland county. also including Sami communities and proclaimed indigenous rights."