Record payout from Norway's Aquaculture Fund reaches NOK 4.7 billion

Norway's Aquaculture Fund will distribute a record NOK 4.7 billion (EUR 398m / USD 429m) to municipalities and county councils involved in aquaculture activities, marking the largest payout since the fund's inception, the Norwegian Government has announced.

“This year’s payment is the largest since the Aquaculture Fund was established, thanks to high license auction prices and government measures to ensure that host municipalities retain a greater share of the value generated by the farming industry,” said Marianne Sivertsen Næss, Norway’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, in Norwegian language statement.

The payout will benefit 143 municipalities and 8 county councils across Norway. The funds are expected to support local welfare services and strengthen communities that make their natural resources available to the aquaculture industry.

Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum emphasized the Norwegian Government's commitment to ensuring that more of the industry's profits remain within Norway's coastal communities.

"We have been clear throughout that we must ensure that the local communities along the coast are left with more of the gain when they make their natural resources available to the farming industry. The aquaculture fund, and its facilities, have been an important piece in this," he stated.

"Now we can clearly see that the plan is working. Today, the money comes back to the coastal communities instead of large parts being sent out of the country as dividends," Vedum said.

The Aquaculture Fund, established in 2017, allocates income from the sale of new aquaculture permits and the production levy on fish farming.

In 2022, the government proposed increasing the municipalities' share of sales revenue from 40% to 55%, which the Norwegian parliament (Storting) approved. This change, along with the full production tax allocation, has bolstered the financial benefits flowing to local governments.

Eighty percent of the fund’s payout goes to municipalities, with the remaining 20% allocated to county councils. Special provisions have also been made for municipalities that facilitated aquaculture expansion by clearing land between 2023 and 2025.

Since its establishment, the Aquaculture Fund has distributed a total of NOK 15.7 billion to coastal communities, including this year’s record-breaking payment.

Of the 143 municipalities receiving funds, the top five in terms of payouts are municipalities within the counties of Trøndelag and Finnmark, both important zones for Norwegian salmon farming. Frøya municipality in Trøndelag secured the greatest payout, at NOK 153.1m, followed by Nærøysund (152.9m), Senja (126.9m), Hammerfest (120,7m), and Hitra (98.7m).

Of the funds paid out at the county-level, Westland receives the largest share at NOK 198.9 million, followed by Nordland with NOK 188.5 million and Trøndelag with NOK 175.1m. Troms and Finnmark will also receive significant payouts, at NOK 144.2m and NOK 94.2m, respectively. Møre and Romsdal will get NOK 78.7m, while Rogaland receives NOK 51.2m, and Agder in southern Norway hooks the smallest amount at NOK 8.3m.

The Directorate of Fisheries will carry out the distribution, expected to be completed in October. The full list of payment allocations can be viewed at the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans website.