The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries will allow farmers in sea lice “red” zones to increase their production capacity if they enclose their production units.
The Norwegian government first announced the plan, which incentivizes farmers to reduce their environmental impact through closed farming systems that keep salmon from interacting with both sea lice and wild salmon, in mid-October, with Minister of Fisheries and the Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss saying at the time it would “contribute to the development of new forms of operation with a lower environmental impact than today's open cages.”
Næss added that she hoped the new incentive plan would help the Norwegian aquaculture industry transition toward the goals articulated in the whitepaper she issued in April 2025, which unveiled a plan – yet to be implemented – that linked sea lice load directly to biomass allowance.
Directorate of Fisheries Section Manager for Strategic Aquaculture Britt Leikvoll said in an 10 October notice clarifying the rules of the new program that it was “a way to allow downsized capacity to still be used, without unwanted impact on the environment.”
The new system comes amid increased pressure from the salmon-farming industry, with 21 firms recently launching a class-action lawsuit against Norway's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries aimed at ending the nation's “traffic light” system.
That system, which was put in place in 2017, assigns colors to Norway’s coastal waters depending on the risk sea lice in the area pose to wild salmon. Of the 13 production areas into which the coast is divided, two are currently “red” zones, which means that producers in those areas must reduce capacity by 6 percent. Those areas, deemed Area 3 and Area 4, comprise the coastal waters from Karmøy to Sotra and Nordhordland to Stadt, respectively.
A previous legal challenge to the traffic light system, in which farmers from Production Area 4 sought damages for lost production value, alleged that scientific evidence had shown that their area had been incorrectly marked “red.” That challenge failed in 2021.
The new incentive program is intended to strike a middle ground, allowing farmers in “red” zones to increase their production capacity if they take steps to reduce their environmental impact, including farming salmon in entirely closed systems with no access to the open sea.
According to the directorate’s requirements, closed production units must include tight barriers to their surroundings, whether on land or at sea, no ability for the salmon in the unit to ingest eggs or free swimming sea lice, and extra security to prevent escapes. The directorate also said that closed units must allow for the collection of sludge and feed residue.
The directorate said that it would conduct inspections to ensure that the requirements were in place before allowing farmers to increase their production capacities.
