202
Y. Liu et al.
Introduction
Salmon aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production sectors in the
world. In just over a few decades, farmed salmon production has increased from
around 500 metric tons in 1970 to over 1.32 million metric tons in 2009. Global
farmed salmon production has exceeded wild salmon production since 1998 (FAO
2007 ) . Salmon aquaculture has provided a number of bene fi ts for society, including employment and income for coastal communities, foreign exchange earnings,
and affordable seafood for consumers. While the supply of fi sh from capture
fi sheries is levelling off, aquaculture is viewed by many as a source that can bridge
the gap between wild fi sh supply and increasing market demand (Bailey et al.
1996 ; Tidwell and Allan 2001 ; Garcia and Grainger 2005 ; FAO 2007 ; Asche
2008 ) .
As a resource-intensive and industrialized activity, salmon aquaculture generates concerns related to environmental and socio-economic impacts. Potential
environmental problems include disease and parasite transfer, escapees, waste
discharge, introduction of exotic species (speci fi cally, Atlantic salmon, Salmo
salar, into the Paci fi c Ocean), residues from chemical and drug uses, and the utilization of fi sh as raw materials for fi shmeal and fi sh oil (Naylor et al. 2000 ;
Kautsky et al. 2001 ; Milewski 2001 ; Pauly et al. 2002 ; Morton and Routledge
2005 ; Naylor and Burke 2005 ; Krkošek et al. 2006 ) . In addition to environmental
issues, salmon aquaculture creates potential market con fl icts by competing with
products from the wild and driving down prices (e.g., Asche et al. 1999a ; Naylor
et al. 2003 ; Knapp et al. 2007 ) . Increasing the supply from salmon aquaculture
has led to a decline in market prices, consequently resulting in pro fi t losses for
both wild salmon fi sheries and salmon aquaculture (Naylor et al. 2003 ; Knapp
2005 ; Knapp et al. 2007 ) . Other sectors potentially affected by the aquaculture
industry include recreational fi shing and boating, navigation, upland property
development, conservation (of marine mammals such as seals) and archaeological
studies (SAR 1997 ) .
There is little doubt that salmon aquaculture will continue to grow, although this
will likely occur at a slower rate than anticipated (Liu and Sumaila 2008 ) . Concerns
over negative environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with the industry suggest, however, that a balance between the growth of this industry and environmental sustainability is required. Finding such an equilibrium has been the
biggest challenge for both fi sh farmers and policy-makers. Different levels of governing authorities ranging from international organizations such as the United
Nations to local communities have attempted to set regulations and regulatory
frameworks to address these concerns. While improvement has gradually been
achieved, the outcomes have been far from satisfactory. As a contribution to the ongoing debate over the concerns about its sustainability and following the suggestion
by Pullin and Sumaila ( 2005 ) , we examine salmon aquaculture from a governance
perspective. Speci fi cally, we employ the concept of ‘governability’ to systematically
examine the characteristics of salmon aquaculture industry. De fi ned simply as the
Y. Liu et al.
Introduction
Salmon aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production sectors in the
world. In just over a few decades, farmed salmon production has increased from
around 500 metric tons in 1970 to over 1.32 million metric tons in 2009. Global
farmed salmon production has exceeded wild salmon production since 1998 (FAO
2007 ) . Salmon aquaculture has provided a number of bene fi ts for society, including employment and income for coastal communities, foreign exchange earnings,
and affordable seafood for consumers. While the supply of fi sh from capture
fi sheries is levelling off, aquaculture is viewed by many as a source that can bridge
the gap between wild fi sh supply and increasing market demand (Bailey et al.
1996 ; Tidwell and Allan 2001 ; Garcia and Grainger 2005 ; FAO 2007 ; Asche
2008 ) .
As a resource-intensive and industrialized activity, salmon aquaculture generates concerns related to environmental and socio-economic impacts. Potential
environmental problems include disease and parasite transfer, escapees, waste
discharge, introduction of exotic species (speci fi cally, Atlantic salmon, Salmo
salar, into the Paci fi c Ocean), residues from chemical and drug uses, and the utilization of fi sh as raw materials for fi shmeal and fi sh oil (Naylor et al. 2000 ;
Kautsky et al. 2001 ; Milewski 2001 ; Pauly et al. 2002 ; Morton and Routledge
2005 ; Naylor and Burke 2005 ; Krkošek et al. 2006 ) . In addition to environmental
issues, salmon aquaculture creates potential market con fl icts by competing with
products from the wild and driving down prices (e.g., Asche et al. 1999a ; Naylor
et al. 2003 ; Knapp et al. 2007 ) . Increasing the supply from salmon aquaculture
has led to a decline in market prices, consequently resulting in pro fi t losses for
both wild salmon fi sheries and salmon aquaculture (Naylor et al. 2003 ; Knapp
2005 ; Knapp et al. 2007 ) . Other sectors potentially affected by the aquaculture
industry include recreational fi shing and boating, navigation, upland property
development, conservation (of marine mammals such as seals) and archaeological
studies (SAR 1997 ) .
There is little doubt that salmon aquaculture will continue to grow, although this
will likely occur at a slower rate than anticipated (Liu and Sumaila 2008 ) . Concerns
over negative environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with the industry suggest, however, that a balance between the growth of this industry and environmental sustainability is required. Finding such an equilibrium has been the
biggest challenge for both fi sh farmers and policy-makers. Different levels of governing authorities ranging from international organizations such as the United
Nations to local communities have attempted to set regulations and regulatory
frameworks to address these concerns. While improvement has gradually been
achieved, the outcomes have been far from satisfactory. As a contribution to the ongoing debate over the concerns about its sustainability and following the suggestion
by Pullin and Sumaila ( 2005 ) , we examine salmon aquaculture from a governance
perspective. Speci fi cally, we employ the concept of ‘governability’ to systematically
examine the characteristics of salmon aquaculture industry. De fi ned simply as the