Resisting the imminent death of wild salmon: Local knowledge of Tana fishermen in arctic Norway

Gro Birgit Ween

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)

Abstract

In 2009 the Norwegian Directorate of Nature management warned that the Atlantic salmon population in River Tana in Arctic Norway was dramatically reduced. Active mesures had to be taken to prevent future extinction. Local fishermen protested against this description of the cause of events. On fishing expeditions, expert claims were continuously discussed. Such conversations were and are a substantial part of everyday conversations amongst local fishermen. In this chapter, the fishermens' conversations are used as an entry into particular aspects of local knowledge, its relational nature, and the implicit epistemological politics. As their witness, during hours of fishing and conversing, I observed how the fishermen scrutinized scientific knowledge claims. They did not just question and compare the experts' knowledge claims with what they themselves knew. Significantly, the fishermen made comparisons of how knowing was done. The Ongoing conversation of the fishermen enacted a resistance more complex than what was visible at first sight. Positioning fisheries science as the Other, local knowledge was enacted and assembled as fluid and heterogenous, including numerous unequal and loosely assembled entites.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFishing People of the North
Subtitle of host publicationCultures, economies, and management responding to change
EditorsC. Carothers, K.R. Criddle, C.P. Chambers, P.J. Cullenberg, J.A. Falls, A.H. Himes-Cornell, J.P. Johnsen, N.S. Kimball, C.R. Menzies, E.S. Springer
Place of PublicationFairbanks
PublisherAlaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Pages153-171
Number of pages18
ISBN (Print)978-1-56612-171-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Dec 2012

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