| Summary: | Salmon farming in open sea pens is a rapidly emerging industry in Iceland. The research objective of this thesis is to investigate what different representatives from government, environmental organizations, local inhabitants, and other organizations affected by salmon fish farming perceive as benefits and drawbacks when it comes to salmon fish farming in Iceland in open sea pens, and what the stakeholders believe to be the solutions to their concerns. The aim is then to explore the important trade-offs and synergies with this upcoming industry in the context of the three dimensions of sustainability: society, economy, and environment. The research method consists of stakeholder analysis and 15 semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders related to Icelandic salmon fish farming with a focus on the Westfjords region. Grounded theory was applied in the analysis of the interviews. The research reveals several synergies and tradeoffs in all dimensions of sustainability with the most significant concerns expressed in the environmental dimension but both positive and negative perceptions in the social and economic dimensions. Governmental laws, regulations and processes were seen as confusing and not easily accessible. A need for policy improvements was detected including the need for improved transparency towards the public about the impact of the industry. The results contribute to a better understanding of perceptions of salmon fish farming in Iceland as related to the three sustainability dimensions and provide suggestions for improvements. Laxeldi í opnum sjókvíum er vaxandi iðnaður á Íslandi. Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að greina hvað hagsmunaaðilar tengdum iðnaðinum, fulltrúar ríkisstofnana, náttúruverndarhópa og íbúa meta sem jákvæðar og neikvæðar hliðar laxeldis í sjókvíum og hvað þeir telja vera lausn á þeim vandamálum sem þeir telja vera til staðar. Jákvæðar og neikvæðar hliðar voru síðan metnar útfrá sjónarhorni þriggja vídda sjálfbærni; samfélags, efnahags og umhverfis þar sem samlegðaráhrif ...
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