A sea of many colours - How relevant is Blue Growth for capture fisheries in the Global North, and vice versa?

Blue Growth is a relatively new term that is meant to realize economic growth based on the exploitation of marine resources, while at the same time preventing their degradation, overuse, and pollution. This article discusses the relevance and usefulness of this new concept for the development of capture fisheries, a sector where growth largely seems impossible without ecological devastation. An analytical distinction between intensive and extensive growth is used to argue that certain development trajectories of capture fisheries might qualify as Blue Growth. Such trajectories of growth are illustrated with the development of the Swedish bleak roe trawl fishery in the Bothnian Bay and Norwegian whitefish fishery in the Barents Sea. Comparison of the cases highlights aspects that Blue Growth advocates might want to include if they choose to consider capture fisheries as a relevant economic activity. These aspects include: a) adding value through certification; b) technological development to make more efficient use of resources used up in the fishing operation, and to upgrade their fish as commodity; and c) specialization.