Almost everywhere, the pace of degradation is frightening. Intense overfishing is punctuated by what has become the norm: pollution, industrial expansion, and careless development.
The government recognized the vital role that herring play in providing jobs and nourishment to so many, as well as the iconic cultural status that the species holds for the Norse people, and so invested in protecting the fish.
Progress must continue, but not at the cost of life on Earth. What we do or fail to do in the next ten years to preserve the ocean’s ability to provide vital ecological services — like releasing oxygen, absorbing carbon, and supplying food — may be the most important thing we do for the next 10,000 years.
The path ahead is not an easy one. In the fjords of Lofoten, the courage of young people has changed the future. In the “iskant,” the government has bowed to the oil industry.