NORWAY DISMISSES IDEA OF BANNING OPEN-NET FISH FARMING

While climate change is primarily responsible for this decline, the salmon farming industry has also contributed through farmed fish escapes and an increase in sea lice parasites, further endangering wild salmon. This has led to the closure of 33 rivers to salmon fishing last summer.

Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, Norway’s climate and environment minister, acknowledged the threat to wild salmon, emphasising his role in balancing industrial activity with environmental responsibility. He stated that his focus is not on halting human activities but on reducing pollution to acceptable levels. Eriksen described the situation as “an existential threat” to wild salmon, highlighting that 2024 was an exceptionally poor year for wild salmon, continuing a trend from 2023 and 2021. He believes this indicates that human impacts on nature are becoming too much for wild salmon populations to bear.

Despite this, Eriksen told the Guardian that he does not plan to shut down open-net sea farming. He emphasised that the aquaculture industry plays a crucial role in feeding people worldwide and that the goal is sustainable production. His main concern is not with the production itself but with the pollution caused by the industry and its environmental effects. He explained that Norway must develop a regulatory system that encourages sustainable production while ensuring pollution remains within levels that do not harm wild salmon stocks.

The Norwegian Environment Agency has proposed the strictest salmon fishing season ever for this year, with limitations on sea salmon fishing in Finnmark and additional restrictions on three fjords and 42 rivers. Instead of banning open-net farming, Eriksen plans to focus on identifying an “acceptable level” of pollution that can coexist with healthy wild salmon populations. He emphasised the need to determine pollution levels that are manageable for the environment, with the possibility of zero pollution in some areas.