Norway’s Minister of Fisheries wants to give fish farmers access to new areas along the coast

The aquaculture industry will get the opportunity to use new areas along the coast. However, strict environmental requirements must be set, according to Minister of Fisheries Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen (H).

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Trade and Industry presented the proposal for a new permit scheme. In the first year, permits can be granted for a maximum of 15,000 tonnes of biomass. Each applicant can get up to ten permits.

Environmental requirements

Ingebrigtsen stated that strict environmental requirements would be set for the applicants. These include zero discharges of eggs and free-swimming stages of salmon lice, a minimum of 60% collection of effluent, and there will be requirements for escape safety.

The scheme will give the Norwegian aquaculture industry significant opportunities to increase production in the future, Ingebrigtsen pointed out.

“We have natural advantages for producing more healthy seafood that the world needs. Therefore, we propose a scheme with new environmentally friendly permits that allow the industry to use new areas and develop new technology to produce more seafood,” he noted.

Auction or innovation competition

The permits in the new environmental technology scheme come in addition to the growth offered in the ordinary way – through the traffic light system.

The Ministry will propose two alternative award methods. The first is an auction after a pre-qualification competition. The second is an award for the best concepts in an innovation competition where points are awarded for solutions that are better than the minimum requirement for effluent and any other environmental criteria.

Another issue that will be considered in more detail is whether the permits should be limited in time or not. The proposal will be submitted for consultation shortly.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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