Pitfalls to policy implementation: controversies in the management of a marine salmon-farming industry

Political decision is a necessary, but not sufficient, precondition for policy implementation. The salmon-farming industry in Washington State provides an example on how institutions affect the implementation of political goals. This article addresses the institutional vulnerability of the marine salmon-farming industry in Washington State. The intersection of human society and nature in the context of salmon farming is composed of three distinct institutional carriers that concern the farmers’ access to the coastal area: floating net pens, confinement in the coastal commons, and salmon as a farmed species. Each of these areas of conflict describes an encounter between salmon farming and a segment of public life where institutions give opposing interest groups access to the policy formation process. Only a few farms are in operation, and at present increased production are unlikely. The industrial organization of the industry is contrasted to two large fin-fish-farming industries, the catfish-farming industry in the southeast USA and the salmon-farming industry in Norway, which provide examples of the effect of supportive and organizing institutions.