Social License to Operate in the Aquaculture Industry: A Community-Focused Framework

With aquaculture development becoming increasingly important in meeting global food needs, understanding social barriers to development is essential. Social license to operate (SLO), a concept that describes community acceptance and approval of incoming industry, offers a lens for better understanding these barriers and an opportunity to identify strategies for successful development. While this concept has recently gained traction within the aquaculture industry, it remains poorly understood. Efforts to measure and predict social license have begun, but these efforts primarily focus on company actions and impacts. This study seeks to expand the utility of social license within the aquaculture sector by developing a preliminary quantitative framework that can predict a community’s willingness to issue SLO prior to siting. 2022 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center) OST (Office of Science and Technology) Submitted https://doi.org/10.25923/htvb-s306 Public Domain 2191