Björk pledges song for anti fish farm campaign

More than 2,000 people gathered in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik at the weekend to protest against open pen salmon farming joined by Björk, the country’s internationally renowned singer.

Björk and the Spanish singer Rosalía have said they plan to release a song later this supporting the fight against fish farming in Iceland and with the proceeds going to support the campaign.

While 2,000 plus campaigners might not seem unduly high, the population of Iceland is just 370,000. A similar scaled up protest in Norway or Scotland, for example, would attract more than 30,000 people.

The protesters gathered in Reykjavik’s Austurvöllur Square, a popular venue for demonstrations and political rallies.

Saturday’s protest was organised by several sports fishing and nature conservation organisations.

They were met by the Environment Minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarsson but he declined to give them any assurances.

Calls to end open pen farming have been growing over the past year, but this latest protest was triggered by a large escape from an Arctic Fish facility in Isafjord in August. The company has since apologised for the incident.