The Sea Around Norway: Science, Resource Management, and Environmental Concerns, 1860–1970

Abstract

Fishing resources were thought of as inexhaustible in Norway until the collapse of the herring stock in 1969. From 1860 to 1970, economic concerns took precedence over environmental issues. By examining the influence of marine science, this article illuminates the ways scientific expertise and economic interests linked to the fishing industry intertwined to form a knowledge system to manage the resources. It examines key elements and actors of the knowledge system: national economy, fisheries scientists, civil servants, the fishers, and theories of fish populations. This article shows that Norwegians were late to acknowledge that fishing resources were limited. In the 1970s, environmental concerns were integrated in the existing knowledge system, but economic concerns still took precedence over environmental issues.