Bridging diverse knowledges for improved salmon management: Linking cultural and biophysical dimensions

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2019

End date

12/31/2023

Budget

861,000 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

SALCUL is a multidisciplinary and partnership-based research project investigating and comparing different practices, knowledge and values related to Atlantic salmon. Furthermore, this project will develop processes for sharing and co-producing indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) and scientific knowledge based on social science traditions as well the natural Sciences. By broadening the knowledge base of Norwegian salmon management, emphasizing the interlinkages between natural and cultural environments, the project will establish a biocultural basis from which more legitimate and robust management processes can be developed. Geographically, the project focuses on the Deatnu-Tana River in Sápmi, Northern Norway/Finland, and the Namsen River in Trøndelag, Central Norway, as well as these rivers' adjacent fjords. These rivers are among the most productive Atlantic salmon rivers in Norway, as well as internationally. They are further included in the National Salmon Fjords and Rivers scheme for protection of Norway's most important salmon populations. In both areas, the salmon has been of fundamental importance for the first people to make a living in these river valleys. For people living along these rivers and fjords, the salmon is still highly valued, forming a central part of the communities' culture, identity, diet, economy, social relations and/or spiritual practices. By exploring and comparing the salmon cultural histories, practices and knowledges related to these different areas and their complexities, we will develop more nuanced understandings of various human-salmon coexistences and multiple ways of knowing salmon. In spring 2021, the SALCUL project published the Norwegian report "Salmon management", presenting an overview of the different levels and areas of responsibility in Norwegian salmon management. In addition to serve as a useful document for further project work, such an overview has been requested from the local level. Due to the COVID19 situation, the SALCUL research team has not been able to keep the progress originally envisioned. Finally, however, last year's planned fieldwork in Deatnu-Tana as well as in Namdalen will be carried out during autumn 2021. The COVID19 situation also put an end to the project's planned international network meeting. In collaboration with International Year of the Salmon (IYS), the original network meeting is turned into an international webinar, bringing together Indigenous Peoples, academics, managers, and decision makers from across the Northern Hemisphere. The goal of the webinar is to respectfully explore the experiences of Indigenous groups across their wide spectrum of involvement in salmon management systems, and discuss the conditions needed for a future where generations of Indigenous knowledge holders and Western scientists effectively collaborate in salmon management. In addition to the network establishment, this webinar will further result in a workshop report and a peer-reviewed article. SALCUL has followed this year's extraordinary situation in Deatnu-Tana closely, where Norwegian and Finnish authorities decided not to allow salmon fishing in the watershed in 2021. In addition, this summer was characterized by a massive invasion of pink salmon. This situation is addressed in the popular scientific article "Fem på tolv for laksen", considering how crises may contribute to constructive change. The authors draw parallels to the management of marine resources, the Norwegian cod crisis in the 1980s and the introduction of the Marine Resources Act in 2009. Here, the focus changed from managing fisheries to emphasizing comprehensive, ecosystem-based fisheries management. Wild Atlantic salmon, however, is not yet managed as part of a complex and diverse ecosystem. The authors consider the current critical situation an opportunity for changing the division of responsibilities within Norwegian salmon management, also at the ministry level. Here, only a small part of the conditions that affect our salmon stocks' development fall within the area of responsibility of the Ministry of Climate and Environment. Grounded in local communities and with close cooperation between various knowledge holders and institutions, SALCUL will facilitate individual, interdisciplinary and institutional learning between holders of indigenous and local knowledge, social and natural scientists and salmon management institutions. SALCUL will further our understanding of how knowledges develop and advance and identify practical and institutional barriers and opportunities for including indigenous and local knowledge in Norwegian salmon management. Our focus on expanding management processes to also include other knowledge types than the natural sciences will provide insights applicable also to other sectors of natural resource management, both nationally and internationally.