Iceland’s fish farmers set up support group

Several leading Icelandic salmon farmers have come together to form a new industry group.

The ten initial members include some of the biggest names in the business such as SalMar owned Arnarlax and Mowi’s Arctic Fish, Samherji and Benchmark Genetics Iceland.

Called the Iceland Aquaculture and Oceans Forum or IAOF, its aim is to support the sustainable growth of the country’s rapidly expanding aquaculture centre.

It is also hitting the ground running by holding its first conference in Reykjavik on June 1-2.

IAOF says it will be a non profit organisation acting as a platform for the for international cooperation and dissemination of knowledge about marine aquaculture, both at sea and on land.

It will also talk about the challenges related to climate change and exploitation, and other features of fundamental importance for the sustainable development of the marine aquaculture sector in Iceland.

It also plans to use its experience and knowledge to establish  partnerships with leading international institutions, research institutions, NGOs, universities, associations, clusters, companies and other stakeholders who can help understand and find solutions to the many challenges facing the sector today.

The new organisation said it plans to “participate in the work of creating new meeting places for ocean-related and land-based aquaculture farming themes and the global aquaculture industry.

It also intends to generate knowledge about global ocean and land aquaculture, targeting various governments, business and international organisations.

Some of this will be done by meeting with the media and institutions to enhance the understanding of the industry.

The group’s first chairman is Kjartan Olafsson (pictured) who is also chairman of Arnarlax.

Kjartan Olafsson