Bíldudalur is one of the Icelandic municipalities in the Westfjords where the value of aquaculture is having a direct impact.
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In Iceland, more than 80% of those employed in aquaculture live in rural areas, and about 80% of the industry's revenues benefit the people who live there. It is also one of the few industries that is more extensive in rural areas than in the capital region, and among those where it is developed - if it is marine aquaculture all production areas in the country are located in the East and West Fjords - it is precisely in the Westfjords region where the value of aquaculture has skyrocketed.
According to an analysis by Radarinn - the Icelandic dashboard of the fishing industry and aquaculture - based on Statistics Iceland data on taxable wages, which are broken down by region and municipality, approximately one-third of all employees and income from aquaculture in Iceland is attributed to people living there.
The data also indicate that, on average, during the first nine months of 2024, approximately 280 people each month received taxable wages from aquaculture in the Westfjords. Compared to the same period in 2013, this number has quadrupled in these eleven years.
The same trend applies to taxable wages of all employees in the fish farming sector in the region, referred to here as employment income. Specifically, from January to September 2024 these amounted to more than ISK 2.5 billion (EUR 17.1 million / USD 18.1 million), this is eight times more in real terms than during the same period in 2013.
Thus, according to Radarinn, during the first nine months of the year, labor income from aquaculture accounted for more than 9% of total labor income in the Westfjords. In 2013 such income accounted for less than 2%.
Moreover, focusing on labor income in the so-called market economy, the percentage is even higher since, excluding the public sector, aquaculture accounted for more than 14%. This proportion was just 2% in 2013, and the figures have never been higher than this year.
This significant growth over the last eleven years has made aquaculture, again excluding the public sector, the second largest source of labor income in the Westfjords, surpassed only by the long-established fishing industry in Iceland.
Like aquaculture, another industry that has been an addition to Icelandic society over the last decade is tourism. Significantly larger than aquaculture nationally, although with a presence in the Westfjords, its impact there has been considerably less than in most other Icelandic regions.
According to the Icelandic dashboard of the fishing industry, comparing labor income from aquaculture with the combined income of various tourism-related industries in the area reveals that the former was almost 70% higher during the first nine months of 2024.
To put the figure in context, Radarinn points out that, in the capital region, where the majority of Iceland's population resides, labor income from aquaculture was only about 1.5% of tourism income.
Ultimately, while this analysis is a rough approximation, as it does not take into account the number of hours worked, Statistics Iceland figures show that in recent years in the Westfjords, per capita labor income in aquaculture has been significantly higher than the average for all industries combined.
Concluding its analysis, the representatives of the fishing industry and aquaculture state that "there is no doubt that fish farming has been a welcome addition to the Westfjords' economy, with its growing activities having positive and widespread effects on the entire community."
However, Radarinn acknowledges the impact of aquaculture on Icelandic society is not equally evident everywhere and is much more visible to residents of the Westfjords than, for example, to those in the capital region. Indeed, a Gallup poll conducted in July 2024 said that more than 65% of Icelanders oppose open-net salmon farming.
Therefore, the dashboard insists on pointing out that the economy is the basis of settlements in Iceland, and its vitality is reflected in social indicators such as population trends, cultural life, the real estate market, and municipal finances, and that the economic impact of aquaculture in the region is even greater than these figures suggest.
"This is because fish farming is a foundational industry, meaning its economic significance far exceeds its direct scale. Other businesses in the region rely on the operations of fish farming companies, while the reverse dependency is less pronounced. These indirect and secondary effects of the industry are substantial and extend well beyond these statistics," Radarinn claims.
Representatives of the Icelandic aquaculture industry insist that the increase in their activity has not only had a positive impact on the country's exports - aquaculture export value breaks records month after month - but has also had a positive impact on municipal revenues in the Westfjords, and recall that municipal income tax is one of their main revenue sources.
One-third of the aquaculture fee - this is the resource fee paid by open-sea fish farming companies - goes to a fund that is earmarked to strengthen municipal infrastructure and business development in areas where marine aquaculture is practiced.
In 2024, the Icelandic aquaculture fund allocated a total of ISK 437.2 million (EUR 2.9 million - USD 3.1 million) to sixteen projects in seven municipalities. Of these funds, 44% went to localities in the Eastfjords, while the remaining 56% went to municipalities in the Westfjords.
In practice, that translated into five municipalities in the Westfjordss receiving a total of ISK 246 million (EUR 1.6 million / USD 1.7 million) from the fund for various projects, such as a new primary and nursery school in Bíldudalur and a vocational training facility at Ísafjörður College.
