Norwegian salmon farmers are optimistic Norwegian government’s new plan to allow more fish density will increase the country’s farmed salmon production and processors’ profitability.
Norway Fisheries Minister Per Sandberg recently set forth a voluntary plan that raises the limit for the amount of fish that can be kept in the water during optimal growth periods, allowing farmers to better exploit the natural temperature variations in the water.
“For the industry, this will provide increased flexibility and opportunities to keep production steady for the winter, thus avoiding layoffs," Sandberg said in a statement.
Companies that want to participate must pay NOK 1.5 million per permit, by 1 September. “They can start as soon as they have paid the fee,” Ingrid Dåsnes, spokesperson for Norway’s fisheries minister, told SeaofodSource.
Eighty percent of the proceeds from the trial will accrue to municipalities and counties with farming activities, and will be distributed based on formulas set out in aquaculture funding. The remaining 20 percent of the revenue will go to the state.
The Norwegian Seafood Association (NSL) said the new plan levels the playing field between small and large salmon farming operations.
“The youngest players in the industry have the consequence that it has been difficult to utilize production capacity as well as larger companies can. This has given the bigger players a competitive advantage,” NSL said in a statement. “This will help to increase flexibility for our members to make them better equipped to handle the market in a sensible way. NSL strongly believes that many will benefit from this scheme, but whether there will be a greater volume growth is still too early to say.”
The new plan will allow more salmon processing facilities to stay open throughout the year. According to NSL, the previous plan “led to considerable activity in parts of the year, and in many cases layoffs in other periods.”
“This cyclical production has been a challenge with respect to creating year-round jobs and stable labor along the coast,” it said.
NSL has been pushing for the changes since 2007.
“The time has long been ripe for a new approach and further development of the production control system by giving individual players greater flexibility, autonomy and responsibility for marketization,” the organization said.
The government is allowing or more fish in the water because of an improved environmental situation, according to Sandberg.
“We are beginning to see the fruits of the work industry and government have done to reduce problems with sea lice,” Sandberg said.
However, if it is discovered that the environmental impact will be unacceptably high, certain areas could be required to reduce capacity in 2017.
