Ocean Farm 1 of SalMar Aker Ocean, the world's first offshore salmon farm, contributed 2.1 thousand tons to the Norwegian company's total Q3 2024 harvest.
Photo: SalMar Aker Ocean.
At the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, assurance and risk management expert Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has conducted a comprehensive impact assessment for offshore aquaculture in three selected areas of Norway. "The assessment is a new milestone in the government's efforts to establish offshore aquaculture," said Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss at the presentation of the results.
Although not all will prove equally challenging, the report shows that Norskerenna South, Frøyabanken North, and Trænabanken, the three areas assessed and selected after several rounds of consultations, may be suitable for offshore aquaculture.
With this report, Norway, one of the undisputed leaders in traditional marine fish farming, seems determined to also open up the opportunities that offshore aquaculture can offer and that other European countries are already exploring as well.
Recent examples of different approaches to offshore aquaculture are the fish farming vessel Ocean Ark in France, the large-scale offshore platform of Mariculture Systems Portugal, or the AZTI and Balfegó new pilot project to revive bluefin tuna fishing in the Cantabrian Sea in Spain.
The impact assessment now submitted by DNV in Norway is the result of a long process that began in 2019 with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries' areas report which described 27 possible areas and recommended 11 of them for additional monitoring. After several rounds of consultations, three were finally selected: Norskerenna South, Frøyabanken North, and Trænabanken.
The purpose of the general impact assessment was to analyze the potential consequences of establishing aquaculture facilities in these three areas and, as stated in the public procurement notice for the report, doing it on three species: salmon, trout, and rainbow trout.
DNV's report covers several key issues, including environmental and biodiversity impacts, fish welfare considerations, and the risk of disease transmission. In addition, it also addresses cultural and social impacts, as well as the possibility of coexistence with other marine industries such as fishing and the oil industry.
In the aforementioned procurement notice, it was also pointed out that the comprehensive impact assessment will serve as the basis for the authorities to decide whether all or parts of an area may be suitable for offshore aquaculture, and which parts of the area should be prioritized for development.
The report - available in full here (in Norwegian) - shows that the North Frøyabanken and Trænabanken areas may be suitable for offshore aquaculture. As for Norskerenna South, it indicates that establishing a good cluster structure with year-round operations could be more challenging, partly due to the relatively small size of the area.
Another point highlighted in the report is the importance of implementing mitigation measures where serious potential consequences have been identified. This particularly refers to measures to reduce the likelihood of fish escapes and the accumulation of sea lice in the areas, a problem that has hit traditional aquaculture in Norway particularly hard this year.
According to DNV's report, establishing regulations for offshore aquaculture and implementing requirements for the design of specific facilities and projects will reduce both the likelihood and risk of such incidents.
Minister Næss, who thanked DNV for its "extensive and thorough work," announced that the government will now send the impact assessment for public consultation. "The report and the consultation feedback will be important inputs for the authorities' decision on whether the three areas may be suitable for offshore aquaculture, and which parts of the areas should be prioritized first," she pointed out.
In late August, the Norwegian aquaculture industry welcomed the government's announcement of plans to issue offshore aquaculture licenses in the first quarter of 2025. The move was met with widespread enthusiasm among industry players such as Sjømat Norge (Seafood Norway), SalMar Aker Ocean, Viewpoint, and Utror, who see it as a critical step toward realizing the potential of aquaculture far out at sea.
"This is an important and correct step from the minister. Offshore aquaculture represents a gigantic opportunity for Norway — not only to increase sustainable food production but also to secure Norway's position as a leading seafood nation in the future," Ole Fretheim, Head of Aquaculture Technology at Sjømat Norge, said then. "Now that the timeline has been set, the real work begins," he added.
This week, during the presentation of DNV's report, the Minister for Fisheries and Oceans spoke along the same lines. "The establishment could have a significant impact on future value creation and activity in the Norwegian aquaculture industry," she said.
"It is important that we now have new and updated knowledge about the potential environmental, fish welfare, and co-existence impacts with other marine industries that offshore aquaculture in the designated areas might have. This helps us stay on schedule," Marianne Sivertsen Næss added