Realising blue growth in the fishing industry in Iceland and Norway: Industry perceptions on drivers and barriers to blue growth investments and policy implications

Since the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972, the discourse has evolved from an initial focus on sustainable development to green and blue growth. Blue growth necessitates a different focus from business-as-usual policy as regards the fishing industry, requiring enhanced research and investment in value generating, clean aquatic-related activities. Given this change, the question emerges of whether the current policy environment is equipped to stimulate increased research and investment efforts within the fishing industry, sufficient to encourage the industry to contribute to blue growth. Do the fishing industries in the Nordic countries realise an opportunity in blue growth in the next several years and what drivers and barriers do they perceive in this regard? This paper relies on in-depth, semi-structured, elite interviews conducted in Iceland and Norway to reveal the perspectives of the fishing industry regarding the perceived drivers and barriers for investing in blue growth. Policy implications and possible directions for enhancing national policies to support the fishing industry in contributing to blue growth are addressed in the discussion.