‘Turkish salmon’, Norwegian entrepreneurs, and the global salmon value chain

Around 1990 Norwegian entrepreneurs and some Turkish firms ventured into salmon farming in the Black Sea. Their ambitious business initiatives failed dramatically. Thirty years later, farming of ‘Turkish salmon’ (salmon trout) proved to be a spectacular success. Local entrepreneurs together with a few large Turkish seafood companies now totally dominate the industry. This article examines why this business went from failure to booming, and further explores what these stories can tell us about the development and character of the global salmon value chain. The research shows that geopolitics and perceptions of risk have been among the primary reasons that Norwegian capital and companies are reluctant to invest in fish farming in Turkey, and that Turkish fish farming has been moving quickly up the value chain.