Norway promotes closed containment aquaculture to compensate for "traffic light" capacity restrictions

Norway's Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans is proposing that aquaculture operators whose production capacity has been reduced under Norway's "traffic light" aquaculture zoning system could compensate for this by utilizing closed aquaculture facilities.

The traffic light system divides the Norwegian coast into thirteen zones where production is regulated according to a set of environmental indicators, mainly sea lice levels, which determine whether farmers are allowed to expand (green zones), whether production is kept unchanged (yellow zones), or whether it is reduced (red zones).

Under the terms of the government's proposal, which is now out for consultation until 20 March, fish farmers in red zones could increase their capacity if they use closed containment aquaculture technology.

"The consultation proposal is a clear commitment to closed facilities, as fish farmers who invest in this operational model are rewarded. This promotes innovation, reduces environmental impacts, and benefits society as a whole. To ensure that the proposal can be implemented as quickly as possible, I have emphasized that it should be easy to administer," said Minister of Fisheries and the Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss, in a Norwegian government press statement.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans said that closed containment technologies, where fish are kept separate from the surrounding environment, are a promising solution for future development of the aquaculture industry in Norway, contributing to both reduced environmental impact and increased value creation.

The proposal, the Minister indicated, responds to a request from the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, where the government is required to submit a proposal for an environmental flexibility scheme.

"The consultation proposal is part of a broader context. The government is working on a parliamentary report on aquaculture, where we will review the entire licensing system," Sivertsen Næss continued.

"The government's goal is to facilitate increased value creation, lower environmental impact, improved biosecurity, and enhanced fish welfare. One of the key issues to be assessed in the report is whether, in the long term, it should become more important how operators produce in terms of environmental considerations, biosecurity, and welfare, rather than how much they produce," she added.

The Norwegian-language consultation proposal can be accessed via the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans website, and the deadline for submitting comments is March 20, 2025.