3 Implementation of Resource Conservation Policies in the Norwegian Fisheries: A Historical Outline

This chapter presents the history of Norwegian fisheries management since 1900, focusing on the system for implementing resource conservation goals. It describes how the Norwegian implementation system has developed incrementally in response to new implementation challenges and outlines in detail the system for handling the most difficult legal and administrative issues in TAC-based management. The chapter seeks to explain the continuity and incremental growth of the Norwegian implementation system, as well as the role of fishing industry organisations in developing it. It argues that the nature of the development of the Norwegian implementation system has been shaped by Norway’s level of national autonomy in fisheries management, the division of authority between the Parliament and the fisheries administration, and the power relationship between the fisheries administration and the key industry organisations. 3.1 The Subject and the Actors This chapter describes the historical development of the Norwegian system for implementing Total Allowable Catches (TACs). The focus is on resource conservation, meaning that the much-discussed question of allocation is addressed only to the extent that it is directly relevant to the implementation of conservation targets. The chapter describes the essential features of the Norwegian system for implementing TACs and offers explanations for how these features developed. An important characteristic of the Norwegian implementation system, influencing this chapter’s descriptive approach, is that it has developed through incremental changes to regulatory details rather than through a large general plan. Consequently, the fundamental ideas of the implementation system must be sought after in regulatory details that may appear to be insignificant at first glance, especially to readers who are unfamiliar with fisheries management. The incremental nature of this development has meant that solutions for the present have largely been built upon the structures of the past. Consequently, understanding the specifics of S.S. Gezelius, J. Raakjær (eds.), Making Fisheries Management Work, 41–98. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008