211
11 Salmon Aquaculture in Canada and Norway – Appraising Governability
and has low dynamics. Thus, on its own, it does not pose major governance challenges. Complications arise, however, in the interaction between the farms and the
aquatic environment, as well as in the marketing of products (as a result of consumer awareness and concerns). The governing system is, however, very diverse
and complex, and it struggles to keep up with the emerging environmental concerns
at local, national and international levels. Taken together, these features contribute
to lowering the governability of the industry.
Nevertheless, numerous opportunities to improve the governance and governability of salmon aquaculture exist. Aquaculture is a sector with a mixed identity; it
can fi t in both fi sheries (ocean) and agriculture (inland), but belongs to neither.
Hence, the regulations and policies for salmon aquaculture are generally adapted or
modi fi ed from, or in some cases combinations of, capture fi sheries and agriculture.
Generally speaking, the majority of current regulations and policies are commandand-control types. Such governing systems may not be appropriate for a number of
reasons, including but not limited to: (1) limited knowledge and uncertainties of the
effects of the farming system resulting from diversity, complexity and dynamics;
(2) inability of regulations to catch up with the problems caused by the industry’s
rapid expansion; (3) lack of economic incentives for producers to improve their
performance on their own initiatives; and (4) cost ineffectiveness of uniform regulations such as pollution standards (Naylor et al. 2003 ) .
In the next section, we propose three ways that may be used to mitigate some of
these problems and improve governability: technological improvement, economicbased instruments and governance solutions.
Technological Improvement
A number of technological innovations in salmon aquaculture development have
been made over the years. The most groundbreaking ones are feed formulation and
the development of vaccines. Advances in the feed conversion ratio and feeding in
general have greatly improved feed ef fi ciency (Asche 2008 ) . The development of
vaccines has signi fi cantly reduced the use of antibiotics and other chemotherapeutics
(Tveterås 2002 ) . Another important development is the closed containment system
(either land-based or sea-based such as sea-bag system) to replace the open netcage
system. Closed systems can mitigate environmental problems and associated impacts
by reducing waste discharges, avoiding marine mammal interactions, protecting wild
fi sh from disease transmission and parasites, and preventing escapes. It is worth
noting, however, that the closed containment systems are not fi nancially feasible at
the current market price of farmed salmon. This is largely due to the high capital
investment and operating costs necessary for aquaculture ventures (Liu and Sumaila
2007 ) . Without a price premium for environmentally-friendly farmed salmon, adoption of the closed containment system is unlikely, especially after land-based salmon
farms went bankrupt some years back in Norway, Iceland and Scotland. Unless that
the newly developed technologies can reduce capital costs of such systems.
11 Salmon Aquaculture in Canada and Norway – Appraising Governability
and has low dynamics. Thus, on its own, it does not pose major governance challenges. Complications arise, however, in the interaction between the farms and the
aquatic environment, as well as in the marketing of products (as a result of consumer awareness and concerns). The governing system is, however, very diverse
and complex, and it struggles to keep up with the emerging environmental concerns
at local, national and international levels. Taken together, these features contribute
to lowering the governability of the industry.
Nevertheless, numerous opportunities to improve the governance and governability of salmon aquaculture exist. Aquaculture is a sector with a mixed identity; it
can fi t in both fi sheries (ocean) and agriculture (inland), but belongs to neither.
Hence, the regulations and policies for salmon aquaculture are generally adapted or
modi fi ed from, or in some cases combinations of, capture fi sheries and agriculture.
Generally speaking, the majority of current regulations and policies are commandand-control types. Such governing systems may not be appropriate for a number of
reasons, including but not limited to: (1) limited knowledge and uncertainties of the
effects of the farming system resulting from diversity, complexity and dynamics;
(2) inability of regulations to catch up with the problems caused by the industry’s
rapid expansion; (3) lack of economic incentives for producers to improve their
performance on their own initiatives; and (4) cost ineffectiveness of uniform regulations such as pollution standards (Naylor et al. 2003 ) .
In the next section, we propose three ways that may be used to mitigate some of
these problems and improve governability: technological improvement, economicbased instruments and governance solutions.
Technological Improvement
A number of technological innovations in salmon aquaculture development have
been made over the years. The most groundbreaking ones are feed formulation and
the development of vaccines. Advances in the feed conversion ratio and feeding in
general have greatly improved feed ef fi ciency (Asche 2008 ) . The development of
vaccines has signi fi cantly reduced the use of antibiotics and other chemotherapeutics
(Tveterås 2002 ) . Another important development is the closed containment system
(either land-based or sea-based such as sea-bag system) to replace the open netcage
system. Closed systems can mitigate environmental problems and associated impacts
by reducing waste discharges, avoiding marine mammal interactions, protecting wild
fi sh from disease transmission and parasites, and preventing escapes. It is worth
noting, however, that the closed containment systems are not fi nancially feasible at
the current market price of farmed salmon. This is largely due to the high capital
investment and operating costs necessary for aquaculture ventures (Liu and Sumaila
2007 ) . Without a price premium for environmentally-friendly farmed salmon, adoption of the closed containment system is unlikely, especially after land-based salmon
farms went bankrupt some years back in Norway, Iceland and Scotland. Unless that
the newly developed technologies can reduce capital costs of such systems.