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🇮🇸 Iceland /Environment & Climate

Fish Alone Cannot Guarantee Food Security in War

From Morgunblaðið · (12m ago) Icelandic Critical tone

Translated from Icelandic, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Norway, a major fishing nation, faces potential food security risks in emergencies due to reliance on imported feed for aquaculture and fuel for fishing fleets.
  • A recent article highlights that in a crisis, military needs would likely take precedence over the fishing industry for fuel, impacting the ability to catch enough fish.
  • The analysis suggests that a

As a publication deeply rooted in Norwegian society, Morgunblaðið (IS) feels compelled to address the critical vulnerabilities in our nation's food security, particularly concerning our reliance on fish.

If an emergency situation led to a fuel shortage in Norway, fuel would be prioritized for the military, not the fishing fleet. It would then be difficult to catch enough fish to feed an entire nation.

— Nils Gunnar Kvamsø and Cecilie HansenQuoted from the article discussing potential food security risks in Norway.

While Norway is globally recognized as a leading fishing nation, the article published by Bergens tidende, featuring insights from the Institute of Marine Research (HI), reveals a stark and unsettling reality. The notion that "we can just eat fish" in times of crisis is a dangerous oversimplification. Our supply chains are far more fragile than commonly perceived, with a significant portion of our catch exported and a substantial amount of our food consumed being imported. This dependence on external factors, even for our own sustenance, is a cause for serious concern.

We are a major fishing nation, but we export the majority of our catch and import more than half of the food we consume.

— Nils Gunnar Kvamsø and Cecilie HansenHighlighting Norway's complex food supply chain.

Furthermore, the article's exploration of potential conflict scenarios, comparing "hot" and "cold" wars in the Barents Sea, offers a unique perspective that resonates deeply within Norway. The idea that a "hot" war, paradoxically, might be preferable to a "cold" one, provided it doesn't lead to environmental catastrophe, underscores the complex geopolitical realities we navigate. The Barents Sea, a region with a shared history of fishing between Norway and Russia spanning millennia, is not just a source of livelihood but a sensitive geopolitical frontier. The potential disruption to maritime activities, from fishing to oil and gas extraction, in such scenarios highlights the interconnectedness of our economy, security, and environment.

We are a major oil producer, but we have only one oil refinery and are dependent on fuel imports.

— Nils Gunnar Kvamsø and Cecilie HansenPointing out Norway's vulnerability in energy supply.

This analysis is particularly relevant for us in Norway, as it challenges the comforting narrative of self-sufficiency often associated with our abundant natural resources. It forces us to confront the intricate dependencies that underpin our modern way of life. The insights from HI scientists, collaborating with defense experts, provide a crucial, locally-focused lens on how global conflicts could directly impact our ability to feed ourselves, a matter of national importance that perhaps receives less critical attention in international discourse.

In a hot war, military activities would increase while civilian maritime activities would decrease significantly. Fishing would diminish, oil and gas extraction would collapse, shipping traffic would decrease, and tourism would cease.

— Nils Gunnar Kvamsø and Cecilie HansenExplaining the paradoxical preference for a 'hot' war scenario over a 'cold' one in the Barents Sea.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Morgunblaðið in Icelandic. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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