Abstract
In Norway, the world’s leader in salmon farming, the aquaculture industry has become a profitable business. Drawing on critical policy studies, this paper analyzes a recent proposal to introduce resource rent taxation on salmon aquaculture for distributing its superprofit for the public good. By mapping actors and positions in the debate, the paper sheds light on the social reasons that led to the proposal’s rejection. It is argued that three positions emerged. The positions differ along two axes: rent and which community would benefit. The first position argues that aquaculture profits derive from natural resources and belong to local communities and to the national community. The second position denies that these superprofits can be categorized as rent and highlights issues of competitiveness. The third position seeks to distribute revenues locally as compensation for facilitating aquaculture. Although the debate about resource rent taxation was launched to debate the public-private issue, it turned into a fundamental disagreement about who should receive rents between the coastal municipalities and the state. The privatization of extraordinary revenue from common natural resources was no longer the focus.
Highlights
Norway is the world’s largest exporter of farmed salmon
In 2017, the Norwegian parliament considered a proposal to introduce resource rent taxation (RRT)1 to better distribute the extraordinarily high private profits arising from salmon farming
While previous aquaculture controversies focused on risks, uncertainties, and scientific expertise, putting a RRT in salmon farming on the political agenda ad dresses the question of what a transition to a ‘blue economy’ implies for the Norwegian welfare state
Summary
Norway is the world’s largest exporter of farmed salmon. Current policy strategies show high expectations for Norwegian value creation from the ocean to increase in the future, with the sales value of farmed salmon projected to quintuple by 2050 [18,32:152]. In 2017, the Norwegian parliament considered a proposal to introduce resource rent taxation (RRT) to better distribute the extraordinarily high private profits arising from salmon farming. Drawing on critical policy studies, this paper analyzes the recent policy debate on intro ducing RRT on salmon aquaculture by mapping the actors and positions in the debate which began in 2018 when the Ministry of Finance appointed a committee to investigate additional taxation of the aqua culture industry in an NOU (Norwegian public report) [21]. Voting down an RRT in aquaculture indicates that the treatment of the salmon industry deviates from previous treatments of the oil industry and hydropower arrangements Such a shift in gov erning approach can have significant consequences for the future financialization of the welfare state, and inequality in Norway. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of available public material (namely, a recently published official government report on resource rent in aquaculture, the accompanying media debate, and public hearing statements)
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