Lerøy’s facility in Kåfjord in Troms, Norway. According to 'The Ripple Effects of the Aquaculture Industry' report published by Nofima, employees at net-pens create almost twice the value as other aquaculture workers in Norway.
Photo: Audun Iversen / Nofima.
Each employee in the aquaculture sector in Norway generates a value of NOK 2.4 million (EUR 213 thousand / USD 236 thousand) on average but if that employee works in net-pens the figure rises to NOK 4.6 million (EUR 409 thousand / USD 452 thousand), almost twice. When compared to the Norwegian industry average, it is up to almost four times more.
Nofima today published its report 'The Ripple Effects of the Aquaculture Industry' in which, in addition to data such as these, it also shows that last year, value creation in aquaculture increased by up to 50% in the country.
Of the total 52,500 employees in the aquaculture industry, including domino effects, approximately 19,500 are involved in the core activities, this is fish production, hatchery/broodstock, sales companies, and slaughtering/processing. The remainder, approximately 34,00 people, are employees involved in the domino effects.
As mentioned, the average value creation of these employees is NOK 2.4 million (EUR 213 thousand / USD 236 thousand) and the largest share comes from employees working in net-pens, who create the most value, NOK 4.6 million (EUR 409 thousand / USD 452 thousand).
Compared to that figure, those working with hatcheries and broodstock create value worth NOK 2.3 million (EUR 204 thousand / USD 226 thousand), while employees of sales companies create value worth NOK 1.8 million (EUR 160 thousand / USD 177 thousand) each.
Finally, in slaughtering and processing, value creation amounts to NOK 0.7 million (EUR 62 thousand / USD 68 thousand) per employee.
In the report prepared by Nofima on behalf of the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) another important figure stands out: last year value creation in aquaculture increased by up to 50%. As with exports, the sharp rise in salmon prices and the weak Norwegian krone are the main factors contributing to this increase.
The average salmon price rose from NOK 59 (EUR 5.26 / USD 5.81) to NOK 79 (EUR 7.04 / USD 7.79) per kilo last year, which contributed to a doubling of the operating margin. Including domino effects, the aquaculture industry had a total value creation of NOK 75,700 million (EUR 6,752 million / USD 7,462 million).
"With a sharp increase in sales prices and thus good profitability, there were major positive effects on value creation," said scientist Audun Iversen, project manager 'The Ripple Effects of the Aquaculture Industry' report.
Another figure that demonstrates this is the sector's contribution to corporate income tax. With a total figure of NOK 7.000 million (EUR 623 million / USD 689 million), if we exclude the oil industry, the aquaculture sector paid 5.7% of Norway's total corporate tax.
If we talk about territories, we have to distinguish several aspects. If we look at the value creation of both core activities and domino effects, Frøya, Alta, Senja, Nærøysund, Hadsel, and Bergen are the most important municipalities. Other urban municipalities such as Ålesund, Trondheim, and Tromsø also feature in the top 20.
Frøya is Norway's largest aquaculture municipality, and therefore also the one with the most employees in the sector, almost 1,800. It is closely followed by Oslo and Bergen. The reason Oslo ranks so highly is the domino effect. Services such as banking, finance, insurance, and legal services are concentrated in the capital, as well as vaccine production companies and some processing companies. Bergen, on the other hand, does not have as many ripple effects as Oslo, but it does have more employment in its core activities, such as processing, sales, and administration.
In addition, the Nofima report also notes that the Aquaculture Fund has proven to be an important tool supporting municipalities that facilitate aquaculture. In 2022, payments reached a record NOK 3.100 million (EUR 276 million / USD 305 million), which was distributed among 140 municipalities and 7 counties. Troms, Finnmark, Vestland, Nordland, and Trøndelag were the most benefited counties.
'The Ripple Effects of the Aquaculture Industry' report also recalls that Aquaculture Fund grants are larger every two years because much of the funding comes from the state’s sale of licenses and increased capacity. Therefore, the report predicts that 2024 could be another year with large payments to municipalities and county authorities.
Nofima is a Norwegian food research institute that carries out research and development activities for the aquaculture, fisheries, and food industries. Owned by the Norwegian state through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries - which has a majority shareholding; the Foundation for Agri-Food Research; and Akvainvest Møre og Romsdal AS; it has approximately 400 employees spread across departments at five locations in Norway.