Pristine fishing area split on prospect of oil
Pristine fishing area split on prospect of oil
Looking for oil outside your front door may sound exciting, but in the idyllic Arctic archipelago of Lofoten, one of Norway's best fishing areas, the prospect of the black gold has sparked heated debate, writes AFP's Nina Larson.
"This issue has split the local community and the nation as a whole down the middle," said Brigt Dale, who recently completed his doctorate on the controversy at the northern Norwegian University of Tromsø.
The question of whether Norway should allow prospecting in the waters around Lofoten's 1,000 or so islands -- whose snow-dusted, jagged black mountains rise up like frozen waves in between small, colourful fishing villages -- has pitted environmentalists and some fishermen against the country's mighty energy sector.
Many locals meanwhile side with the energy companies, insisting oil is needed to create work and growth in the archipelago, whose 25,000-odd inhabitants are facing a decline in jobs in the vital fishing industry, which has sustained habitation here for thousands of years.
http://www.thelocal.no/20120302/pristine-norwegian-fishing-area-divided-on-prospect-of-oil