Seafood Council names new France envoy

The Norwegian Seafood Council has a new envoy to help promote the industry in France, one of the country’s main salmon markets. She is 41-year-old Sigrid Louise G. Philippart (pictured) who is coming into the world of fish from the energy industry. She takes over from Trine Horne who has been doing the job for…

Read More

Plans to blow up islets to build large post-smolt facility

A row is brewing over plans for a new post-smolt facility in the north of Norway – which will involve blowing up two small islands to make space for the construction. The company behind the project is Gaia Salmon, which plans to produce between 8,000 and 10,000 tonnes of post-smolts weighing up to 800 grams…

Read More

Now Norwegians changing minds on fish farming

Round fish farm pens in blue sea, mountains on horizon

Norwegians are becoming increasingly negative about salmon farming, according to new polling. The survey was carried out by Norwegian broadcaster NRK public radio and follows a series of reports about large salmon death numbers from various biological issues. But the industry organisation Seafood Norway believes that views would be different if there were more positive…

Read More

Norway slams the brakes on cod farming growth

cod fish swimming in blue sea

Norwegian regulators have called a temporary halt to further cod farming applications, particularly those at new locations. The sector has been growing so fast that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) wants time for everyone to draw breath and examine any biological or related implications. Whether growth resumes will depend on an assessment of the…

Read More

Better news on escaped fish numbers

wild salmon leaping upstream

Fewer escaped salmon are getting into Norwegian rivers, according to the latest annual survey. OURO, the aquaculture industry’s association for dealing with escaped farmed fish says that fewer of these salmon  migrated up the rivers in 2023 than in previous years.  It adds: “This is positive because fewer escaped fish in waterways before spawning reduces the…

Read More

Arctic Fish granted licence renewal for two sites

The Icelandic Food Agency, MAST, has renewed the operating licence of Arctic Sea Farm, a subsidiary of Arctic Fish, at two key sites. The decision allows for up to 7,800 tonnes of salmon.  The sites are at Patreksfjord and Tálknafjörður in the Westfjords region of the country. Arctic Fish, which is majority owned by Mowi,…

Read More

Now Cermaq is forced to cull 900,000 young salmon

Cermaq has become the latest large Norwegian salmon company to be hit by a major biological issue. The company said yesterday it has been forced to cull 900,000 fish with wounds in six cages at its facility near Hammerfest. The fish weigh around 500 grammes on average. Earlier this week the Lerøy Seafood group reported…

Read More

Hofseth’s mountain farm plan faces criticism

Resistance is growing against a plan to build a huge land based salmon facility at a former mountain mining site in Norway. The project, which will trade as World Heritage Salmon, is being opposed by a number of environmental groups, however. The latest to come out against it this week is the national archive organisation,…

Read More

Faroes producer wins maximum four-star BAP accolade

Fish farmer Hiddenfjord has become the first salmon company in the Faroe Islands to achieve the maximum BAP four-star designation following the certification of its freshwater hatchery, Fútaklettur. BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) is a third-party certification program developed by the Global Seafood Alliance, an international, not-for-profit trade association headquartered in the United States, dedicated to…

Read More

Export award for krill harvester Aker Biomarine

Krill harvesting company Aker BioMarine has won this year’s Innovation Norway and Eksfin export award. The company was able to convince the jury that it is possible to achieve success through a “targeted, sustainable and innovative strategy”. The award was announced at last week’s Export Conference, held by Innovation Norway and Eksfin, the Norwegian government’s…

Read More