Paper info

Tracing fish: a question of definition

Svanhild E. Haugnes

The paper was published at the 28th IMP-conference in Rome, Italy in 2012.

In 2005, Norway had a trade leakage of € 60,000,000 on bacalhau, only in Portugal. The aim of this article is to illuminate how this can happen. Four case studies of the Norwegian-Portuguese bacalhau network are presented. Qualitative interviews were performed with 45 business actors. These data were collected as a part of Haugnes’ (2010) dissertation. The empirical cases traces ‘Bacalhau da Noruega’ (i.e. salted and dried codfish from Norway) from the Portuguese supermarkets and the consumers towards the Norwegian Sea, looking at the business actors’ activities. The study will identify variations in the traceability, and the actors’ definitions and use of the term ‘Bacalhau da Noruega’. The article will conclude by suggesting a means to decrease the trade leakage.