Fields of blue growth as "green" answers : a critical analysis of the Swedish discourse on aquaculture and ocean development

Sammanfattning: Because of increasing pressures on marine life and habitats, the overall health of the global ocean has over the latter years received attention internationally. It is therefore of relevance to analyse how the type of human-nature relationship towards the ocean is presented through what can be coined as Blue Growth. The aim of this research is to critically discuss what human-nature relationships that are shaped through national Blue Growth strategies by focusing on how the aquaculture industry is depicted in it. This will be done by investigating, through a critical discourse analysis, three power laden actors in Sweden, a country with a long coastline, many islands and being a nation redound for its nature and good keeping of it, figures itself and forms the discourse on marine development. Stemming throughout is that economic growth, and enterprising nature through entrepreneurial kick-offs, stands as the building block for developing ocean affairs. This in turn is argued to foster incomplete answers to how to deal with ocean degradation.