Norway lawmakers reach agreement on proposed aquaculture reforms

The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) joint standing committee on industry has met this week to decide on the proposals put forward by Norway's government on the future of aquaculture in the country.

Norway's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Marianne Sivertsen Næss, presented the White Paper "The Future of Aquaculture - Sustainable Growth and Food for the World" in April this year. Among the outlined reforms to the country's aquaculture regulations, the government proposed incentivising sustainability measures and fish welfare, with a target of 5% mortality and new rules for "sea lice emissions to carry a direct cost for fish farmers," as Næss explained at the time.

This week's cross-party committee hearing discussed the white paper, and reached agreement on the final proposals to be taken forward to the Storting for a formal vote next week.

The result was a compromise on some of the proposed measures, with the committee agreeing to maintain the status quo for now, in terms of Norway's traffic light system for aquaculture permits and the maximum allowable biomass allocated to farmers, pending the development of a new regulatory system.

According to the official publication of the committee's recommendations on the Storting website, the cross-party lawmakers indicated that proposed changes to the current permits system would need to undergo further study and public consultation before being considered by parliament.

"The Storting asks the government to examine different models for future regulation of the aquaculture industry based on actual environmental impact and be aligned with individual incentives, including the government's proposed model, the Aquaculture Committee's proposal and the current framework. The studies will be submitted for public consultation, and the choice of regulatory model will be presented to the Storting for final consideration," the committee's first recommendation states.

Before any changes are made to the maximum allowed biomass (MTB) rules, the committee said the government should first "study a distribution key for the possible allocation of quotas based on company MTB", and should also "assess the consequences of the possible abolition of MTB, including company values ​​and ownership".

The committee showed support for the government's proposed target of 5% mortality rate for farmed fish, proposing it should "initiate work on measures to achieve the goal set in the Animal Welfare Report of a mortality rate down to 5 percent".

On the major problem of sea lice, proposed measures also found support from the committee, such as a push for increased use of closed containment aquaculture facilities. This would see the Storting take forward the government's proposal that aquaculture operators whose production capacity has been reduced under Norway's "traffic light" aquaculture zoning system could compensate for this by utilizing "zero emission" technology, i.e., closed systems that ensure no sea lice can be emitted from the farming facility.

The committee proposals also task the government with submitting a proposal for a scheme to tackle sea lice which includes "low-emission solutions", including automated lice counting, with a deadline of 2026 for the new scheme to come into force.

"The scheme should replace the current exception rule in the traffic light system, and be designed so that the effect on lice reduction and the strength of the incentive are linked," the committee stated.

Another task the committee wants to set for the government in 2026 is to formally assess how best to use waste products from aquaculture, including sludge, in development of a "national strategy for a circular economy in aquaculture".

In addition, the committee calls for government to support development of low-trophic aqauculture, including seaweed cultivation, "with the aim of facilitating sustainable growth and increased value creation in the production of low-trophic species, including access to land."

Another key proposal being taken forward to the Storting next week is strengthened support for Norway's seafood processing sector, with the committee requesting the government "facilitate a greater proportion of local processing of farmed fish".

The Storting committee is also calling for a more streamlined and accountable system for managing aquaculture locations, recommending faster and more coordinated application processes through clearer state planning and defined authority roles.

It also proposes consolidating national oversight within a new Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture, which would have the power to allocate sites and support municipal spatial planning. "The Directorate will also be responsible for following up on municipalities in their spatial planning in coastal marine areas," the committe proposes.

In parallel, lawmakers want the Aquaculture Fund, which allocates income from the sale of new aquaculture permits and the production levy on fish farming to coastal communities, to be further developed to provide stable and predictable revenue for host communities along the Norwegian coast.

The committee's proposals will now go before the Storting for a formal vote on Thursday 12 June.