Reconfiguring innovation systems for sustainable sectoral transformation: The case of the Norwegian aquaculture industry

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 Petro-maritime 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 the long-term sustainable transformation imperatives of the sector will largely depend upon the ability to identify and support further development of promising niche aquaculture technologies.