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SAC #19: Renting out the moose hunting – a clash between neighbors

When

Friday, 14 July 2006, 4 - 5:30pm

Where

Anthropology Seminar Room: Richardson 2C21N

Speaker

Bjørn Egil Flø, Center for Rural Research, Norway and
CSAFE visiting scholar

Abstract

The Norwegian farmers, as most of the farmers around the world, have been under pressure for a long time. Continuous decline in numbers of farms and less and less income from farming have forced the farmers to look for other source of income. In regions which can offer alternative jobs the farmers can easily add a beneficial part to their income by taking full or part-time jobs outside the farm. Alternatively they can rent or buy more land and quota and intensify their production or even specialize into certain marked segments whit gives they more income, etc.

In other regions, as for instance the remote mountains and forest regions south-east in Norway, the alternative jobs are scarce. The effect of the growing amount of predators make it hard to intensify the sheep breeding and it seems to be too expensive to convert into milk production. Neither the niche marked seems to be particular attractive in this region even if we do find a few farmers trying to establish into the market.

What seams to be a “hot potato” at the moment, as a means to more income for the farmers, is commercialization of the hunting in the region, especially the moose hunting. But to do so they have to proceed carefully. Moose hunting is more like an institution in these regions. Men, woman and children are all involved in some way or another and there is no difference if you are a landowner or not. There have been easy access to hunting for all in the municipality and the moose hunting has played, and still plays, an important role building and strengthening the social relations among the inhabitants.

Bjørn’s presentation will look into the formal and informal structures regarding moose hunting in these regions and discuss the possibilities for a successful commercialization of the moose hunting.

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