The 2022 Norwegian farming permit sale in Norway produced positive results. However, not all of the maximum allowable biomass tons (MTB) were sold. Therefore, the Norwegian government has presented an autumn auction to boost aquaculture.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries, along with the Directorate of Fisheries, conducted an auction for salmon farming production capacity. In this auction, a total of 22 participants acquired the 8.243 tonnes MTB capacity. The combined value of the purchases reached approximately NOK 3.8 billion (EUR 339 million/USD 381 million).
However, despite the positive results, after last year's auction, 8,243 MTB remained unsold, distributed in five production areas. For this reason, the government is proposing a new auction to make this production capacity available in the production areas.
Thus, the Norwegian government, to foster further growth and value creation along the coast more simply, has proposed an autumn auction. According to Bjørnar Skjæran, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, the remaining capacity will be sold in this new auction.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Fisheries is currently going to issue a consultation with a proposal for the design of an auction for the placement of the remaining capacity from the 2022 allocation round. The initial proposal suggests conducting a closed bidding round auction to sell the remaining capacity. From now on, it has a deadline of August 21.
For the time being, the planned date for the auctions to take place would be September. However, there is still no definitive date.
