This project investigates how and to what extent new policy instruments serves to promote innovation and environmentally sustainable production in Norwegian fish farming.

It will study the new Traffic Light System, which divides Norway into 13 production areas and uses infection pressure on wild salmon as the basis for deciding whether industry actors are allowed to increase (green light), freeze (yellow light) or reduce (red light) production growth. The project will also study the scheme for development permits, which supports big and capital-intensive innovation projects, as well as the aquaculture fund, which transfers state revenues to regional and local authorities.

The goal of the project is threefold:

• Firstly, it will evaluate how these new instruments interact with each other as well as existing regulations and public administration.
• Secondly, it will study how they contribute to innovation, focusing particularly on genetics (breeding for more lice-resistant fish) and technology (the development, demonstration and commercialization of entirely new production methods). 
• Thirdly, the project will investigate and compare the politics of policy implementation within three selected production areas (attributed a red, yellow and green light respectively).

Based on these studies, it seeks to explain differences in environmentally sustainable production between production areas, and evaluate how policy design, implementation and public administration can be improved to secure more environmentally sustainable fish-farming in Norway.

Project period: 2019-2024