Access to and protection of aquaculture genetic resources - Structures and strategies in Norwegian aquaculture

Breeding companies need protection for genetic material to assure revenues from genetic improvement and investment. Fish farmers and fish breeders need access to genetic resources for food production and further development and sustainable use of fish genetic material. In Norway, access legislation is now in the process of being developed. The objective of this paper is to discuss some of the main challenges associated with access to and protection of fish genetic resources in aquaculture. In an interdisciplinary study, we combine expertise on fish breeding and genetic resources with that on law and political science regarding regimes for resource management. Our material is drawn from a number of interviews with individuals directly involved in fish breeding and farming. Our most significant finding is that there is a discrepancy between the knowledge of farmers and breeders with respect to access and legal rights to genetic resources and the actual possibilities and limits offered by today's and forthcoming legislation. In order to maximize the industry's potential, there seems to be a need for information about access and legal rights to genetic resources. Market consolidations and privatisation are among the factors that are recognised as most important in changing the ground rules within the sector. Although the similar history of the plant and agricultural sector does not seem to have a high visibility among fish farmers and breeders, most are becoming more concerned with the questions of access to and protection of the wild and improved breeding material that is central to their trade. This realisation is predominantly linked to external use of Norwegian salmon genetic resources, as most breeders are still confident in the superiority of their own breeding populations. Nevertheless, the breeders also acknowledge their vulnerability, should access to new and improved materials or traits become severely restricted. The predominant view among our respondents is that the sector needs to find a balance between access to breeding material and protection of proprietary innovations in fish breeding. Coupled with this view is an emerging realisation that the value of improved breeding material invariably is underestimated, leaving the farmers to reap most of the added value from fish breeding and farming. Against this background, an interest in finding some way of capturing the value of the improved stocks is emerging among the fish breeders.