Over half a million people visited Norway's aquaculture visitor centres in 2024

Last year, over 550,000 people visited Norway’s 32 aquaculture visitor centres, according to a new report presented to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Marianne Sivertsen Næss.

The report, commissioned by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) and conducted by Menon Economics with input from science centre VilVite in Bergen, found that the centres are successfully fulfilling their remit to raise awareness and knowledge about aquaculture - although it also suggested several areas for improvement.

Norway’s aquaculture visitor centres not only host exhibitions but also offer guided tours of production facilities. The report found that combining visits with such hands-on activities “has great potential to provide educational benefits for all participants,” particularly schools, which the report notes are a "priority audience".

“The success of the viewing centers is generally a function of how many people they reach, and how well they convey insight into the industry,” said project manager Oddbjørn Grønvik of Menon Economics. “In light of the good visitor numbers and the generally high quality of the communication, our overall assessment is that the viewing centers are a great success."

Despite the overall positive verdict, the report points to wide variation in visitor numbers and quality of exhibitions across the 32 centres. While six visitor centres received over 20,000 visitors in 2024, more than half attracted fewer than 5,000.

Although the centres were in general found to be "open" about the environmental challenges facing aquaculture, the report observed a "pervasive technology optimism among the exhibition centers, where challenges in the industry are presented as if they will be solved in the future".

"It is recommended that the centers emphasize the trade-off between value creation and environmental footprint to a greater extent, which will provide a more nuanced picture of the challenges and positive impacts of the aquaculture industry," the authors stated.   

Further recommendations for improvements include ensuring better alignment with Norwegian school curricula and improving interactivity for visitors across exhibits.

The report also proposed that official visitor statistics should be submitted to government authorities, suggesting that official reporting would be to the benefit of the centres themselves, helping "support the importance of the centers, and ensure society is confident that the scheme is actually delivering in line with expectations.”