Mapping Rights in Coastal Sami Seascapes

Abstract

With the help of two recent Sami rights reports, this article identifies and discusses challenges for research and government in Norway related to indigenous fishery rights issues. Both the Coastal Fishing Commission and the Sami Rights Commission reports address how to accommodate local and indigenous rights to harvest marine resources within the national fisheries management regime. A thorough rights identification and mapping process of existing private and collective rights to marine resources is proposed. Until recently little research into fisheries from a Sami perspective and the customary use of fjords and coastal areas in Norway has been done. The article examines historical and current knowledge used in the two reports to meet the challenge of indigenous fishery rights issues, and how these claims were met by the Norwegian government. The author argues more research on the customary use of the seascape is needed, combining local knowledge with community participation to fill knowledge gaps in marine resources rights issues.