Meeting in the Barents Sea Forum

The Norwegian team held their second dialogue forum meeting on February 15, 2022. This “Barents Sea Forum” includes representatives from state, market and civil society organizations, with members from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, Seafood Norway, Petro Arctic, Equinor, the Norwegian Coastal Fishermen’s Association, the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association and Friends of the Earth Norway.

The meeting started with a summary and status of the OCEAN PACT project. After that, we discussed the development of offshore wind power and offshore aquaculture in Norway’s marine and coastal waters and the associated governance frameworks and patterns of conflict. The participants also gave their feedback on the project team's plan for data collection.

Furthermore, we discussed the potential of marine spatial planning to prevent or mitigate conflict. The Norwegian government has recently announced that it wants to extend the well-established system of land-based planning to cover the entire 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone. However, what this will mean in practice remains an open question.

Finally, based on a presentation prepared for the 2022 Ocean Sciences Meeting, there was a discussion about how marine conflicts can play a productive role and contribute to greater sustainability.