Kristin Hoelting, 2007-2008

One thing is certain – once you get them talking about salmon fishing it’s hard to get them to stop.

In Norway there isn’t a tradition of female fishers; I recently heard about one fisherwoman from Sørlandet who was a member in the Norwegian Salmonfishers Association, but has since passed away.  In this male dominated realm one might think that a young woman from the United States, speaking broken Norwegian, might have a hard time interviewing old Norwegian fishermen about salmon fishing and salmon restoration.  However, my experience has been the opposite.  I have been graciously invited into the homes of dozens of fishermen and landowners, from the riverbanks of Voss and Bolstad down to the ocean views of Øygarden and Sotra.  And without fail it has been difficult to get out the door without seeing fishing photographs and trying some home-smoked salmon.

What is noteworthy is that talking about salmon is still exciting for people even 15 years after the Vosso salmon run collapsed.  There are of course large helpings of nostalgia, resignation and some lingering anger mixed in with their enthusiasm.  The Vosso River was special.  It produced some of the largest salmon in the country, commonly 10-20 kg, and often up to 25-30+.  The Vosso had some of the most elite river stretches in the country, affordable only to rich foreigners.  Fishermen in the fjords developed a unique fishing method in which small fishing huts were perched on the edge of steep fjord faces or built as a tower on stilts out in the current.  Fishermen would then watch from these impressive towers and use a weight and pulley system to close the net’s entrance after fish swam in.

The economic value of a salmon run is relatively easy to measure, although there are only scattered historical catch and sales records for Vosso and many areas of Norway.  We know that the rentals of river stretches to sportsfishermen were worth millions of kroners, and that until the 1960s and 70s salmon fishing in the ocean and fjords remained an important contribution to yearly salaries in combination with small-scale agriculture and other fisheries.  We also know that the economic importance of salmon to these areas had already started to decline before the resource itself vanished.  Wild salmon became less profitable as better transportation opened alternative employment opportunities for these small coastal and fjord communities, the resource declined steadily, and the farmed salmon industry was established.

The latter led to price competition and effectively reduced the remaining salmon fishermen to hobby fishers.
Why did some fishermen keep fishing after it was no longer commercially viable?  The ‘cultural and lifestyle’ values associated with salmon fishing are more difficult to measure than the economic value, but it is clear from talking with these fishermen that they are real and significant.  My goal this year has been to begin to measure these other values using qualitative interviews and questionnaires.  Having some understanding of the importance of wild salmon to communities along the Vosso watershed can underscore the importance of restoration efforts that are currently underway, just as forfeited economic opportunities can motivate restoration action.  At the end of May I will submit a social science chapter for the next Vosso Report on the status of restoration efforts in the Vosso watershed.  I will present the results of questionnaires and discuss salient opinions and issues that surfaced during interviews.

In addition to providing support for the importance of restoration activities, my interest this year has been to learn about the political and social landscape related to salmon restoration.  Who is involved, and why are they involved?  How do different groups of fishermen from different geographical areas agree or disagree on the best approach to protecting and restoring salmon resources, and how well do they work together toward a common goal?  How does the fish farming industry contribute or not contribute to these efforts?  The insights I have gained about these questions will serve me next year as I begin a masters program in Marine Affairs at the University of Washington. 

This year in Norway has been fruitful and immensely enjoyable, and I look forward to staying in contact with the colleagues and networks I have developed as I move forward in my career.