SIS Dilemmas
Dilemmas in Sustainable Fisheries
In this strategic institute project, we will investigate and increase knowledge about the dilemmas that can arise among the three sustainability pillars - economy, environment, and social conditions - in the exploitation of our wild fish stocks.
Start
01. Jan 2025
End
31. Dec 2027
Funded by
Nofima
Project Manager(s):
Other Participants:
Geir Sogn-Grundvåg
Ingrid Kristine Pettersen
Torbjørn I Tobiassen
Birthe Vang
John Roald Isaksen
Background
The EU’s mandatory sustainability reporting (CSRD) requirements are expanding and will soon include Norwegian fisheries. The requirements cover environmental, societal, and governance impacts, risks, and opportunities. Double materiality analysis is mandatory under the CSRD. This involves assessing how companies’ activities affect the environment and society and how external sustainability conditions affect the company’s economic activity. Therefore, a holistic approach is required to consider environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
Sustainable exploitation of fish stocks often involves trade-offs, or dilemmas, among the three sustainability pillars. A sustainability dilemma arises when choosing between alternatives where none is unequivocally better. For example, high efficiency in fishing can yield high profitability but reduced fish quality, which negatively affects profitability in the land-based industry. Reduced haul size or live delivery can increase quality and value creation but reduce profitability in fishing and increase greenhouse gas emissions. Such dilemmas are sporadically studied, but a holistic understanding of sustainability dilemmas along the value chain from catch to consumer, including how these can best be weighed against each other, is lacking.
It is not possible to solve all sustainability dilemmas in the exploitation of fish stocks. Still, it is nevertheless crucial to increase knowledge about which dilemmas exist or may arise to make the best possible decisions. Research-based knowledge about the value of benefits and disadvantages for various actors and/or links in the value chain can provide a basis for cost-benefit analyses that can be used in a decision-making situation, for example, as a basis for policy design. Furthermore, the project can contribute to innovative thinking and measures so that future projects and research contribute to sustainable development.
Goal
The main goal of the project is to investigate and increase knowledge about the dilemmas that can arise among the three sustainability pillars – economy, environment, and social conditions – in the exploitation of our wild fish stocks.
The project has the following subgoals:
- Subgoal 1: Develop a conceptual framework to identify and analyze dilemmas among the three sustainability pillars in the wild fish industry. The goal is to identify dilemmas that will be subject to cost-benefit analysis and how this can best be done methodologically.
- Subgoal 2: Identify and analyze various dilemmas that can arise among the three sustainability pillars exemplified with cod and haddock delivered by the coastal fleet. The focus will be on how quality affects the three sustainability pillars and what dilemmas arise through the value chain from catch to export.
- Subgoal 3: Strengthen Nofima’ s competence in sustainable fisheries through interdisciplinary collaboration and competence building across departments and disciplines, aiming for interdisciplinary scientific publications.
How we work
At the start of the project, a conceptual framework will be developed to identify and analyze dilemmas among the three sustainability pillars in the wild fish industry. This framework will have a particular focus on fish quality. The framework will be based on a review of relevant general sustainability literature and studies focused on the entire or parts of the seafood value chain. Methods for cost-benefit analysis will also be included in the framework, which will be tested and adjusted through case studies on cod and haddock.
The work to identify and analyze various dilemmas that can arise among the three sustainability pillars for cod and haddock delivered by the coastal fleet will involve the following data collection:
- Data on catch and raw material quality, as well as information on fuel consumption and operating costs related to different vessels’ fishing strategies.
- Interviews with actors at all stages of the value chain (fishing, production, and export) to gain insight into economic and social sustainability aspects resulting from different raw material quality.
The collected data will be used to analyze dilemmas among environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
We will also document the added value of treating the entire raw material as best as possible, as well as analyze and assess the quality of different fractions of the raw material and evaluate usage possibilities and suitability against the legislation.
The research themes covered by the project are complex, requiring an interdisciplinary approach. In addition to the fact that interdisciplinarity can lead to new knowledge at the boundaries among disciplines, collaboration among disciplines can be advantageous because it can provide an increased understanding of how one’s own discipline can contribute knowledge in a larger perspective. We will use the following tools to stimulate and benefit from interdisciplinarity: Success criteria for interdisciplinary research will be presented and repeated regularly for the project group, as well as regular meetings with presentations for discussion in the project group. In addition, fieldwork will be carried out jointly, where researchers from one discipline invite researchers from other disciplines. The goal is interdisciplinary scientific publication.
Strategic priority areas
Nofima invests its own resources in order to increase competence in useful, relevant and innovative areas and strengthen our position among the leading applied research institutes.
Active projects
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Topics
Fisheries