Norway announces new salmon permit auction

The Norwegian government has announced details of a new sale of salmon and trout farming permits.

There is likely to be no shortage of bidders with the previous sale netting the Oslo Exchequer a record six billion krone (£500m).

Then a total of 42 companies applied with 30 eventually taking part. They added a further 27,000 tonnes to the country’s total biomass.

One of the biggest spenders was SalMar which paid almost NOK 1.8bn (£600m) for permits to increase its output by 8,000 tonnes.

This latest sale will broadly follow the same open format as the last auction which was delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.

Part of the sale will be on a fixed price basis with the remainder sold through auction. However, there are a few rule changes. In the last round, bidders were informed of  the size of demand in each area.  The Ministry said this information could, in certain circumstances, favour the larger companies so it has now been decided to tell bidders whether or not demand had exceeded the allocation.

The time and date has yet to be announced but the consultation deadline for companies is 5 May.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said capacity will be allocated, as in previous rounds, by offering permits in “green” production areas under the current traffic light scheme. Each area will be permitted growth of up to 6%.

Part of the proceeds from the sale are handed back coastal communities where fish farms are based, to spend on leisure, health and other amenities.