Ghosts of the Techno-Fix Ocean? A Short History of Periphylla periphylla in the Norwegian Fjords

• Published in: Humanities
• Main Author: Tirza Meyer
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2024
• Subjects: jellyfish; conservation; alien species; history of marine resources; ocean history; Anthropocene ocean; History of scholarship and learning. The humanities; AZ20-999; Climate change
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/h13020044; https://doaj.org/article/5bef2219886b4b17b2a6e8b260c1818a

In 1980, reports of deep-sea jellyfish blooms in Norwegian fjords led researchers to investigate the problem. The helmet jellyfish, Periphylla periphylla , has since migrated far north into Arctic waters. This paper examines what happened when the jellyfish blooms were noticed in 1980 from a historical and ethnographic perspective. It traces four research projects and business ideas that proposed solutions to the jellyfish problem and asks how they are representative of the ways in which humans meet the challenges of anthropogenic climate change. The paper concludes that the jellyfish problem was met with a “techno-fix” attitude that sought to “turn a problem into a resource”, which eventually leads to what Julia Livingston has termed “self-devouring growth”. In a final outlook, the article asks how we can engage with questions of conservation from a humanities perspective and concludes that the jellyfish story can help us to ask questions about “conservation for whom”.