Stewardship and risk: an empirically grounded theory of organic fish farming in Scotland

It has long been assumed ownership gives farmers incentives to act as stewards of the land. On this basis, quasi-property rights are granted to fish farmers to encourage them to manage risks to the aquatic environment. This paper offers an empirically grounded theorisation of fish farmers' perspectives on these issues. Data were gathered via field research with Scottish salmon farmers who had switched from conventional to organic modes of production. Our findings suggest organic fish farmers' risk management strategies offer little support for the view that property rights automatically create incentives for stewardship of the marine environment.