(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"We have two oil ministers, and no fisheries minister," the head of the Norwegian Fisheries Association said last week. He speaks on behalf of fishermen in Lofoten and Vesterålen who have been expelled from their fishing grounds. The reason is that the government's seismic surveys will be allowed to run. In the quarrel about seismic, the government has shown a frightening misunderstanding and lack of respect for Norway's most important renewable industry, the fisheries. Most frightening is that it is the Minister of Fisheries who has led the fight against the fishermen.
Seismic is a study where the goal is to determine if there is oil and / or gas on the seabed. Sound waves are fired at the seabed and then analyzed when reflected back. The pressure from the sound waves is enormous. The fish are scared away and catches can go down by between 50 and 80 percent in these areas. Fish, fish fry and eggs are at risk of dying immediately within a radius of about five meters.
It is not surprising that the fishermen in Lofoten and Vesterålen have called for warning. But to ask that the seismic shooting in this area be stopped was to pray for deaf ears. The fishermen's suggestion that six weeks around the month of July was the time when the seismic surveys would have the least impact was heard and the government announced that they would conduct the surveys for four months. Of course there will be trouble like that.
There was so much noise that on 21 May NRK was able to report that the government would postpone the seismic. Nature and Youth cheered, but that was before Fisheries Minister Helga Pedersen came on the scene. While SV and the Center Party worked internally in the government to get the seismic exposed, the Ministry of Fisheries refused to give in to the fishermen's demands. And it was Helga who won through: The fishermen were allowed to leave.
The battle over the seismic shooting is about more than an internal fight in the government or a quarrel between local fishermen who feel let down by who they thought was their prime minister.
The seismic controversy also says something about the term "coexistence between industries" which has been used by oil advocates to establish a belief that fish and oil can live side by side. "Sharpen up, fishermen," said leader of the Nordland Labor Party, Gunnar Skjellvik, when the conflict raged at its worst. It is thus the Labor Party's definition of coexistence – that fishermen must sharpen their skills: "Stop fishing!"
As a kind of patch on the wound, the government boasts that it will now be easier for fishermen to get compensation for lost catch due to seismic. To think that it is enough to give the fishermen a few kroner for lost catch is to underestimate the fishermen's significance for life along the coast. For every fisherman in the boat, there are two on the quay and three in the shop, it is said. When there is good fishing at sea, it is felt by the goldsmith – there is money among the people.
The battle between oil exploration and fishing must also be seen in a larger context. The world is calling for solutions to the food crisis. At the same time, the oil industry will enter the areas where the last large cod stock in the world is located. Lofoten and Vesterålen can, if we manage the sea areas correctly, provide food for all eternity. Closing the oil industry permanently out of these areas would be a Norwegian contribution to solving the food problems and an important signal to the world that Norway prioritises food production, renewable industries and climate over the oil industry.
That is why it is so frightening that the party whip seems to be stronger than the desire to defend the Minister's area of responsibility. The minister who should defend the fisheries with his beak and claws is the one who prioritizes the oil interests over the fishermen.
