Exploring public perceptions and expectations of the salmon aquaculture industry in Norway: A social license to operate?

The aquaculture industry depends on the support of society to maintain and extend its activities. In Norway and elsewhere, such support cannot be taken for granted. The public has diverse expectations of the industry, and attitudes toward the industry are shaped by experiences with industry production, how the benefits and disadvantages of aquaculture production are distributed in society, and the kind and degree of information about industry issues that is available. This paper investigates public attitudes toward the Norwegian salmon aquaculture industry through a nationwide survey (N = 1183). The results reveal that the public is generally positive toward the industry; they tolerate and even accept it. However, respondents had more negative perceptions regarding the environmental consequences of aquaculture production and the fairness of the distribution of economic gains. Although the industry was seen as acceptable, respondents were more reluctant in terms of welcoming production growth, which points to a need for improvement if production increase is to be realized and the industry is to be able to meet society's expectations. Our results reveal differences in attitudes between respondents living in areas with and without aquaculture, which suggest that proximity to industry is, in general, positively related to industry perceptions. However, these differences vary in size, and it can be assumed that there are substantial contextual variances within the group of respondents living in aquaculture municipalities. One potentially important influence on attitudes is related to how industry is perceived to be financially significant in a particular local community. Further research could supply these data to offer a more detailed understanding of contextual variations and thus expand on the present results that explore public perceptions and expectations of the salmon aquaculture industry.