There is currently a lot of farmed salmon with wounds and injuries that must be corrected before it is traded outside Norway. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) will increase the use of measures against businesses that violate this requirement.
Photo: Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet).
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) announced it is toughing its stance on trading unprocessed production fish outside Norway's borders. It does so after finding that, despite the guidance given to companies during the animal welfare monitoring campaign it has conducted among the country's biggest salmon farmers, it continues to receive reports on their marketing outside Norway.
"This is a violation of regulations. Mattilsynet follows up on cases we are notified of, and we will escalate the use of measures if we see that businesses continue to violate regulations," said Inge Erlend Næsset, Director of Regulations and Control at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
Production fish - so-called "prodfisk" - are farmed fish with injuries, deformities, and serious treatment errors, and in Norway, the law dictates these fish must not be marketed for human consumption until they have been corrected by domestic operations with the necessary equipment. The country's Fish Quality Regulations even state that, when transporting production fish, the packaging should be clearly marked 'For domestic production only'.
According to Mattilsynet, this requirement aims to ensure good quality fish and fish products for consumers, as well as contributing to Norwegian fish being sold in markets around the world. In the Norwegian Food Safety Authority's view, the fact that "some choose to violate regulations" also creates different competitive conditions for industry players.
However, Norwegian salmon producers are currently divided between those, like Mowi, who are calling for an exemption to the ban - arguing that the level of production-quality fish is saturating Norwegian processors - and those, like Sjømatbedriften - the Norwegian Seafood Association - who think that there is enough processing capacity within their borders to handle the increasing levels of production fish and that the reputation of Norwegian salmon is at stake.
Meanwhile, last week, the European Commission officially listed Norway's ban on the export of unprocessed production fish as a trade barrier, listing it in the European Union's online database of trade barriers under the category of 'Export prohibition and other quantitative restrictions'.
The proportion of production fish varies between seasons and more "prodfisk" in winter is the norm. In Norway, figures provided by Mattilsynet indicate the proportion has recently steadily increased from 5% in 2018 to 15% in 2023, and the figure soared above 36% in some weeks this year.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority insists on pointing out that producers are responsible not only for controlling the welfare of the fish but also for foreseeing these oscillations in the percentages of production fish within their volumes. "We believe that today's situation with a lot of production fish has been foreseeable and is within what the industry must anticipate in its production," said Næsset.
In Norway, between 150 and 200 trailers are loaded every day with farmed salmon, either for transport to EU countries or for delivery to a ship or aircraft terminal. "Mattilsynet cannot control all of these," the statement from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority read.
"We expect all businesses to follow the rules regarding domestic correction of production fish. However, our supervision campaign last year showed that there are too many actors violating regulations, and we now continuously receive reports that this is still happening," said its Director of Regulations and Control.
Back in December, Mattilsynet already warned that, in 2024, it would investigate six of the country's largest aquaculture companies to monitor the welfare and health of their fish and that the results of this audit would be in the public domain. Just this week, we learned the first of those high-profile audits had been conducted at SalMar with "non-conformities" found in the company's management of fish health.
During this monitoring campaign, Mattilsynet followed up with companies with guidance. As a result, the Food Safety Authority considers that companies are sufficiently informed about the relevant regulations. "Based on the extensive attention to the matter, we now assume that all businesses are aware of the requirements," stated Næsset. "Therefore, we are escalating the use of measures against those who continue to violate the rules."
Such escalating measures may include, for example, export and trade bans, orders for withdrawal from the market, destruction, disposal, or seizure. However, Mattilsynet warned they will also consider police reports in cases where this may be applicable. An extreme that - for example - Arctic Fish faced in Iceland last autumn, although the police eventually dropped the investigation as they felt there was no basis for continuing it.
"Our goal is for the illegal practice to cease. This will provide fair competition conditions for industry actors and contribute to the purpose of the quality regulations, ensuring good quality for consumers and international market access for Norwegian seafood," concluded Næsset.
