Abstract
This article aims to shed light on the recent sustainable
transformation dynamics of the Norwegian aquaculture
industry. Drawing on perspectives from the socio-technical
transition studies this article investigates how this process
has been shaped by a specific policy instrument known as
development licenses (DL) launched in 2015. The article
captures the DL as a transformative innovation policy
instrument and shows how this has played a key role in
steering the directionality of the technological innovations
in the sector to instigate the sustainable transformation
process of the industry. The article reveals that the DL has
prompted the emergence of new challenged-oriented innovation
systems through reorientation and reconfiguration
processes. These processes specifically involved both the
mobilization of actor-networks in the industry, including a
functional reorientation by the key regulatory organ—the
Directorate of Fisheries—and harnessing locally available
pre-existing knowledge and skills—particularly in the Petromaritime
industry. The licensing scheme means that the
industry is currently in the process of transition to becoming
a sector based on multiple aquaculture production
technologies. However, we suggest that addressing thelong-term sustainable transformation imperatives of the
sector will largely depend upon the ability to identify and
support further development of promising niche aquaculture
technologies.
transformation dynamics of the Norwegian aquaculture
industry. Drawing on perspectives from the socio-technical
transition studies this article investigates how this process
has been shaped by a specific policy instrument known as
development licenses (DL) launched in 2015. The article
captures the DL as a transformative innovation policy
instrument and shows how this has played a key role in
steering the directionality of the technological innovations
in the sector to instigate the sustainable transformation
process of the industry. The article reveals that the DL has
prompted the emergence of new challenged-oriented innovation
systems through reorientation and reconfiguration
processes. These processes specifically involved both the
mobilization of actor-networks in the industry, including a
functional reorientation by the key regulatory organ—the
Directorate of Fisheries—and harnessing locally available
pre-existing knowledge and skills—particularly in the Petromaritime
industry. The licensing scheme means that the
industry is currently in the process of transition to becoming
a sector based on multiple aquaculture production
technologies. However, we suggest that addressing thelong-term sustainable transformation imperatives of the
sector will largely depend upon the ability to identify and
support further development of promising niche aquaculture
technologies.
