Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the Aurland River in Western Norway as a diachronic assemblage constituted by a multitude of enacted rivers. In the past, the river was a site of subsistence and engagement with wider economies for the many small farms situated on its banks. Lordly fishermen arriving in the valley from the late 1880s enacted the river as one of the best anadromous brown trout fisheries in the world. The decision to dam and build a hydroelectric power plant on the river in the 1970s, literally changed the course of the river forever. We especially focus on trout as active agents that enter, spawn, and leave these many rivers, but also on the many constellations trout are made part of, as they are released by fishermen to ensure reproduction of desired traits, and crushed to death in turbines. Together these two aspects constitute the human-fish ontologies that we examine.