Oslo approves major salmon growth plans

A TOTAL of 47 fish farming companies, including many of the big names in the business, have been given permits to increase production using the environmentally friendly ‘traffic light’ scheme, says the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries.

The value of the applications when the deadline for new licences expired, and based on 449 permits, is worth 947 million kroners (£87 million) and is expected to lead to a growth in ‘green’ biomass of 7,897 tonnes.

The move is expected to bring huge economic benefits to many coastal communities because two years ago the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) decided to set up an Aquaculture Fund allowing 80 per cent of revenues from growth to be distributed among urban and rural municipalities.

The deadline for new applications ended on January 31 and, says the directorate, comes after several years of only relatively modest expansion. It is also the first of two rounds of expansion, a fixed price sale this time and an auction sale in the spring. The ultimate goal is growth of six per cent.

Fisheries minister Per Sandberg said: ‘This shows our faith and commitment to the industry, which itself has great ambition.

‘It will also provide a great deal of income for the local communities where the growth will take place. And they will receive even more money after the auction sales.’