From Lakselv to Elv – The Fight for Wild Salmon

What if a town changed its name to save a species?

That was the premise behind our campaign in Lakselv, Norway – a small town whose name literally means “Salmon River.” With wild salmon populations in sharp decline because of threats by farmed salmon industry practices, and political action moving too slow, we posed a radical question: What is Lakselv without the salmon? Just a river...

So we made it official. A real political proposal was submitted to the local government: change the town’s name from “Lakselv” to simply “Elv.”

The campaign sparked outrage, support, headlines, and – most importantly – attention to a national environmental crisis. The action was backed by local voices and culminated in a mini-documentary and a digital petition at lukkmerdene.no.

So far, over 10,000 have signed. National debate has erupted. The politicians had to respond.

And wild salmon got a voice.