Abstract
Promoting an alternative understanding of sustainability based on interspecies equity has become increasingly important in the tourism sector. We present an analysis of interspecies relationships to more deeply inform biocultural conservation interventions and the sustainable management of marine tourism destinations. By applying the critical biocultural identity framework to a qualitative case study, we explore how relationships between tourism actors and non-human animals evolve and how these relationships shape ideas about the conservation, management and sustainable development of the tourism destination and marine protected area. Focusing on the coastal tourism destination of Saltstraumen (Norway), we have conducted interviews and observations over a period of three years to follow the development of the relationship between the Atlantic wolffish and the diving community. Identifying the types of interactions with the wolffish and the resulting knowledge and values that are shaped through these interactions and interspecies networks, this study sheds light on the development of human-wolffish relationships and the influence on decision-making processes, policy formulation, and multispecies community cohesion that has reshaped the tourism system toward wildlife equity and conservation.