The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has processed the application from Salmar Aker Ocean AS. Also, it has given a commitment of a maximum of 9,000 tonnes of MTB for the Smart Fish Farm development permits in the Norwegian Sea.
Therefore, the Authority has listed the requirements to be met for food safety, fish health, and fish welfare. Moreover, the Institute of Marine Research and the Veterinary Institute has contributed the necessary assessments.
In more detail, the plant is aimed to be located outside Norwegian territorial waters, outside the scope of the EEA agreement. This presents challenges for Norway's free status. According to the organism, this will influence on Norway's exemption status on the diseases VHS and IHN in an offshore facility.
Through the Government's report Ocean exploitation at sea, New technology – new areas, intra-ministerial investigation work is underway. Thereby, it will clarify questions related to regulations surrounding aquaculture at sea.
To clarify, the Directorate of Fisheries both processes and coordinates the processing of applications. However, they can only assess whether the conditions for clearance of the site have been met. After, all sector authorities have completed processing the case.
