Preserving Irish Smoked Salmon: Food Producers, Cultural Heritage, and Environmental Conservation

• Main Author: Guyer-Stevens, Malia
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Technological University Dublin 2022
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/dgs/2022/modernirish/4; https://doi.org/10.21427/13w9-5f64; https://arrow.tudublin.ie/context/dgs/article/1280/viewcontent/Guyer_Stevens_DGS2022_final.pdf

This research argues that the bottom-up heritagization of smoked salmon by Irish smoked salmon producers is an integral piece in the movement to protect wild Atlantic salmon in Irish waters. Wild Atlantic salmon in Ireland have transformed over the centuries from mythological figure to luxury export, and today into national food heritage thanks to the efforts of smoked salmon producers. This designation transforms Irish salmon from a wild animal into a symbol of Ireland’s historic ties to their coastal regions, an embodiment of traditional food practices, and projects the fish’s importance into the future. However, wild Irish salmon face extinction from overfishing and environmental degradation. Conservation efforts to protect wild salmon stocks have grown in recent years but smoked-salmon producers are left out of the conversation. In a growing food-tourism industry, smoked salmon producers in Ireland educate their customers about the fate of wild salmon, as well as provide data directly to scientist and policymakers. Through a textual and visual analysis of the websites of several artisan smoked salmon producers in southwestern Ireland, this research demonstrates the role of food producers in constructing food heritage. This analysis is supported by ethnographic interviews that demonstrate their active role in salmon conservation.