Danish Environment Minister Lea Wermelin has halted the issuance of new aquaculture permits and said it will not allow existing operations to expand any further.
Wermelin told FødevareWatch commercial aquaculture causes too much environmental damage for her to allow more development.
“I am concerned about the state of our aquatic environment, and this applies to both our open sea and coastal areas, and therefore I do not think there is room for more or larger aquaculture,” she said. “The problem is that nutrients are being released into our marine environment, and we can see that nitrogen emissions are not falling as expected and that we have oxygen depletion problems, which is why we need to take better care of our marine environment.”
Denmark currently has 19 aquaculture cages, though in July, it was revealed that six had not obtained statutory operating permits, while the remaining 13 also had permitting issues, according to FødevareWatch.
Wermelin endorsed a land-based approach to aquaculture as more sustainable than net-pen or other forms of marine aquaculture.
"The government wants a sustainable strategy for fish farming in Denmark, which basically means that the fish farm must be on land," she said.
Danish Aquaculture Organization Director Brian Thomsen criticized Wermelin’s approach.
"It's a serious setback," Thomsen told Agence France Presse. "We thought about establishing offshore farms but now it's impossible."
Photo courtesy of Folketing
