Cermaq ordered to cut production in Nordland

Salmon farmer Cermaq has been ordered to reduce activities by a third at one of its sites in Nordland, Norway – and it is not happy.

The instruction has come from the Nordland state administrator which has ruled that production must be reduced from 5,400 tonnes to 3,600 tonnes.

Cermaq said that while the decision will not have consequences for local jobs in the short term, it will affect the municipalities of Steigen and Hamarøy in the form of lower activity. It will also influence Cermaq’s future decisions for growth in Nordland.

The decision follows a process that Cermaq started in 2019, when the company applied for an increase in area and biomass on Oksøy and Anevik. In connection with this, a mandatory survey of biodiversity was carried out and live coral deposits were discovered in the area.

Cermaq said: “In response to the application from 2019, the State Administrator first adopted an increased emission permit for the Anevik site in 2020 from 5,400 tonnes to 8,000 tonnes.

“Later, in February 2022, the State Administrator instead notified the possible withdrawal of the emission permits for both locations. The State Administrator then assumed that further operation could have negative consequences for red-listed species and habitat types… [referring to] corals.

“Both the State Administrator and Cermaq agree that there is a lack of a sufficient knowledge base for the impact on corals from farming, which Cermaq wanted to contribute to the application process for Oksøy and Anevik.”

As part of this, Cermaq carried out in 2021 a comprehensive survey of benthic conditions and the impact on the seabed and the fjord.

“We identified and proposed concrete measures to reduce the risk of possible impact, including a comprehensive monitoring program with sludge collection to maintain the current MTB [microbial turnover to biomass] volume. This is to verify the real impact the facilities had.

“The State Administrator’s decision, however, entails a reduction of biomass on Oksøy and is based on a precautionary assessment in relation to corals. It will therefore not give a real assessment of whether today’s volume has had an impact.”

Deep water coral, Norway