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The History and Development of Atlantic Salmon Management in Iceland
Author(s) -
Scarnecchia Dennis L.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(1989)014<0014:thadoa>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - salmo , fishing , fishery , stock (firearms) , recreation , fisheries management , agriculture , geography , population , environmental resource management , business , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , economics , demography , archaeology , sociology
The history and development of the management system for Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) in Iceland are outlined in the context of geographical, biological, ecological, social, and political factors. Important geographical factors influencing management include the physical isolation of the country, small human population, no human habitation in the interior, low energy demands, and lack of many alternative uses of land around rivers. Biological and ecological factors include small size of the salmon stocks, high variations in annual abundance, long residency of adult salmon in rivers before spawning, and maintenance of good flesh quality of prespawners. Social and political factors include the prohibition of mixed‐stock oceanic fisheries, emphasis on recreational fishing, relative cultural and linguistic homogeneity, and administration of salmon by the Ministry of Agriculture as a freshwater fish. The management consists of key national restrictions on harvest designed to provide an ecologically sound framework for stock‐specific management, even in the absence of detailed data about stocks. Managers are generalists, and management tends to be parsimonious; i.e., it occurs at the lowest organizational level necessary to achieve goals. The major challenge facing managers is how to protect wild stocks of salmon amid rapidly expanding private cage‐rearing and ranching operations.