213
11 Salmon Aquaculture in Canada and Norway – Appraising Governability
appropriate tax level is challenging because it requires a full understanding of the
source of an environmental problem and its associated impacts and costs. Pollution
abatement costs may be used as a reference point to establish an environmental tax
level (Liu and Sumaila 2008 ) . For instance, lawmakers in Chile have fi led a bill to
tax salmon producers roughly 5% of the monthly pro fi t to cover the environmental
costs caused by salmon farming (Carvajal 2007 ) .
When environmental damages are highly uncertain and complex, a performance
bond/deposit-refund system may be employed (Mathis and Baker 2006 ) . As with
penalty and reward programs, a deposit is collected from producers before production begins. This deposit can be fully, partially or non-refundable depending on
environmental performance. This instrument has not been widely applied except in
shrimp farming in Texas (Mathis and Baker 2006 ) . For salmon aquaculture, fi nes or
prosecution are more commonly used to address violations such as delayed or unreported escapees. Although these regulations are not very effective and the process
of fi ne payment is costly and time consuming, they may give producers incentives
to mitigate environmental damages.
Eco-certi fi cation and labelling have recently received much attention from environmental organizations and consumers. They aim to harness consumers’ purchasing behavior directly by creating market-based incentives for environmentally
friendly seafood, taking into account product attributes other than price (Wessells
et al. 1999 ; Cochrane and Willmann 2000 ) . Eco-labelling is an effective way to
provide consumers with awareness about the seafood they buy (Naylor et al. 2003 ) .
In theory, consumers are willing to pay a higher price for sustainable seafood to
compensate for the increase in production costs that a product entails. Thus, seafood
with an eco-label can command a premium price. This is not always the case, however, as the recent debate about Marine Stewardship Council’s certi fi cation program
demonstrates (Jacquet and Pauly 2008 ) . For farmed seafood, the Aquaculture
Certi fi cation Council has been widely recognized as a default eco-label. To the best
of our knowledge, there are currently no eco-labelled farmed salmon products on
the market. However, farmed salmon produced in land-based systems in British
Columbia have been self-labelled as “eco-salmon,” labels that are accepted by some
retailers and consumers.
Governance Solutions
Salmon aquaculture has gained considerable institutional support and political recognition due to its contribution to the national economy (Liu et al. 2011 ) . With the
development of the industry, management strategies and environmental policies
have become more complex and rigorous in order to reduce and minimize the environmental and economic effects associated with salmon aquaculture. Complying
with these regulations and policies represents costs to salmon producers. Authorities
have the obligation to set regulatory frameworks that balance the social, economic
and environmental concerns of producers and the society at large. While a weak
11 Salmon Aquaculture in Canada and Norway – Appraising Governability
appropriate tax level is challenging because it requires a full understanding of the
source of an environmental problem and its associated impacts and costs. Pollution
abatement costs may be used as a reference point to establish an environmental tax
level (Liu and Sumaila 2008 ) . For instance, lawmakers in Chile have fi led a bill to
tax salmon producers roughly 5% of the monthly pro fi t to cover the environmental
costs caused by salmon farming (Carvajal 2007 ) .
When environmental damages are highly uncertain and complex, a performance
bond/deposit-refund system may be employed (Mathis and Baker 2006 ) . As with
penalty and reward programs, a deposit is collected from producers before production begins. This deposit can be fully, partially or non-refundable depending on
environmental performance. This instrument has not been widely applied except in
shrimp farming in Texas (Mathis and Baker 2006 ) . For salmon aquaculture, fi nes or
prosecution are more commonly used to address violations such as delayed or unreported escapees. Although these regulations are not very effective and the process
of fi ne payment is costly and time consuming, they may give producers incentives
to mitigate environmental damages.
Eco-certi fi cation and labelling have recently received much attention from environmental organizations and consumers. They aim to harness consumers’ purchasing behavior directly by creating market-based incentives for environmentally
friendly seafood, taking into account product attributes other than price (Wessells
et al. 1999 ; Cochrane and Willmann 2000 ) . Eco-labelling is an effective way to
provide consumers with awareness about the seafood they buy (Naylor et al. 2003 ) .
In theory, consumers are willing to pay a higher price for sustainable seafood to
compensate for the increase in production costs that a product entails. Thus, seafood
with an eco-label can command a premium price. This is not always the case, however, as the recent debate about Marine Stewardship Council’s certi fi cation program
demonstrates (Jacquet and Pauly 2008 ) . For farmed seafood, the Aquaculture
Certi fi cation Council has been widely recognized as a default eco-label. To the best
of our knowledge, there are currently no eco-labelled farmed salmon products on
the market. However, farmed salmon produced in land-based systems in British
Columbia have been self-labelled as “eco-salmon,” labels that are accepted by some
retailers and consumers.
Governance Solutions
Salmon aquaculture has gained considerable institutional support and political recognition due to its contribution to the national economy (Liu et al. 2011 ) . With the
development of the industry, management strategies and environmental policies
have become more complex and rigorous in order to reduce and minimize the environmental and economic effects associated with salmon aquaculture. Complying
with these regulations and policies represents costs to salmon producers. Authorities
have the obligation to set regulatory frameworks that balance the social, economic
and environmental concerns of producers and the society at large. While a weak