Danish Environment Minister Lea Wermelin has proposed two new bills calling for stricter management of marine aquaculture and limits on the sector’s expansion.
In August 2019, Wermelin said she would seek to have her ministry halt the issuance of new aquaculture permits and limit the expansion of existing operations, citing the industry’s environmental impact.
Last month, Wermelin introduced complementary bills that will repeal the legal basis allowing the establishment of new aquaculture production operations and prohibit existing aquaculture companies from expanding their marine presence.
“Our marine environment is under pressure, and I do not want more or larger aquaculture in Denmark,” Wermelin said. “It is a sector where fish are farmed in net cages out at sea, and where substances are discharged directly to the aquatic environment, without any kind of cleaning. It is time for us to clean up and ensure effective supervision of aquaculture. We must be a green pioneer country, even when it comes to fish farming.”
The legislation would also prohibit the practice of using mussel mariculture to compensate for the environmental impact of net-pens.
“Without the possibility of using compensatory marine instruments, it is expected to be difficult for the aquaculture sector to grow,” Wermelin said in an Environment Ministry press release.
Wermelin is also pushing for all aquaculture permitting to come under the supervision of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, which currently shares responsibility for the task with seven of Denmark’s municipalities. The shift in management comes as part of a broader push initiated by Wermelin in June 2020 to tighten oversight of the aquaculture sector, including new rules requiring the implementation of a digital reporting system and more frequent reporting requirements
Wermelin reiterated her preference for land-based aquaculture to replace pens placed in the ocean.
“The fish farming of the future must be sustainable and [move from] taking place in the sea to environmentally friendly salt and freshwater fish farms on land,” she said. “The aquatic environment has cramped conditions in several places, but with the right technology that is continuously improved, environmentally friendly fish can be farmed in fish farms on land, where the focus is on both purification and recycling of the water. That is the path we must take, instead of expanding aquaculture with the risk to the aquatic environment.”
The two bills are under consideration by Denmark’s Folketing on 22 October 2020 and, if approved, are expected to enter into force on 1 January, 2021.
Niels Dalsgaard, the chairman of industry organization Dansk Akvakultur, criticized Wermelin’s efforts, saying there is no evidence for her claim that land-based farming is more sustainable than marine farming. He also criticized the government’s effort to centralize oversight under the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming that municipal governments are more informed about the industry and the details of its local operations. And Dalsgaard pointed out that Wermelin’s bills would effectively halt the expansion of organic and Aquaculture Stewardship Council-certified fish production, which he said aligns with the country’s strategy for aquaculture, which has been formally approved by the European Union.
“Both the ASC standard and the organic label ensure that stricter considerations have been taken into account for the environment and sustainable aquaculture, and several Danish aquaculture farms work according to these standards. I would like to know why the Minister of the Environment believes that neither the ASC certification nor the eco-label is sustainable,” Dalsgaard said. “Aquaculture is a climate-friendly and environmentally-efficient industry and we will continue to work on presenting the good arguments politically. Overall, we want a diverse sector, but with this initiative, all development at sea is halted, including the development of organic farms.”
There are currently 19 net-pen farming sites in Denmark, primarily farming rainbow trout. Their production totaled 14,388 metric tons with a value of DKK 558 million (USD 93.8 million, EUR 79 million) in 2018, according to Statistics Denmark.
Photo courtesy of Dansk Akvakultur
