Village of Patreksfjordur, located in the Westfjords, Iceland. The Aquaculture Fund grants are aimed at strengthening the municipalities' infrastructure and business life in the marine fish farming areas in both the West Fjords and the East Fjords.
Photo: Adobe Stock.
Iceland's Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries - which recently changed head when Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir took over from Svandís Svavarsdóttur - announced that the Aquaculture Fund Board has already decided on allocations for 2024. This year, 56% of the funds went to municipalities in the Vestfjörður (West Fjords), while the remaining 44% went to localities in Austurland (East Fjords).
By the March 6 application deadline, the Aquaculture Fund received 29 applications from eight municipalities, totaling more than ISK 1.5 billion (EUR 9.9 million - USD 10.6 million), this is more than three times the allocated amount. After reviewing and evaluating the applications, the Board finalized the allocation on April 8 with a decision to support 16 of the 29 projects.
The final amount allocated by the Aquaculture Fund Board was ISK 437.2 million (EUR 2.9 million - USD 3.1 million). Most of these will go to schools and the improvement of student equipment, totaling almost ISK 140 million (EUR 931,686 - USD 997,883), followed by water supply projects, with more than ISK 100 million (EUR 665,322 - USD 711,064).
Since the establishment of the Fund in 2021, a total of ISK 975 million (EUR 6.4 million - USD 6.9 million) has been allocated to various projects in the respective municipalities that have aided their ability to meet the growing demands of residents and economic activities in line with increased activity in marine aquaculture.
In this year's unanimous evaluation, the Board considers that all projects receiving funding are well aligned with the Fund's priorities and are suitable for strengthening the infrastructure of municipalities and business life in areas where marine fish farming is practiced.
To decide on the allocations, the Aquaculture Fund met thirteen times between March 8 and April 9. This year, in addition, it also held remote meetings with the individual municipalities, where opportunities were provided to discuss and review existing applications and projects.
The Board has highly appreciated this development and consequently has already announced that a similar methodology will be applied in next year's allocation process, giving a voice to the municipalities.
Undoubtedly, as is already the case in other countries such as Norway, the voice of the municipalities is going to be important in the future of aquaculture in Iceland since the sector is destined to be one of its economic engines, as fishing already is.
Not surprisingly, while still negotiating its future Aquaculture Law, the country started the year with an unprecedented surge in its aquaculture export value, and, judging by the presence of Icelandic aquaculture at this year's Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, the industry is ready for what is to come.
