Atle Eide: Salmon farming is becoming Norway’s ‘lost opportunity’

The following is an opinion piece written by the chairman of SalMar Aker Ocean, Atle Eide, originally appearing in Norwegian on IntraFish.no . More and more salmon and trout are squeezed into too small of an area. The number of exposed smolt in 2022 increased by 5.8 percent, while the permit volume (area) increased by 1.5 percent. The same figures for the previous year were 3.5 percent and 1.5 percent. The effect is increased costs, high mortality and aggressive lice attacks. After the figures for the fourth quarter were presented, several equity analysts believe salmon farming costs should decrease. "It will be better next year" was the refrain. The fact is, it’s getting worse. Here are the world’s biggest land-based salmon farming projects The production cost of salmon has increased every year since 2010, except for 2012, where there was a marginal decrease. In 2022 — based on early estimates — it will reach an all-time high. If these biological challenges continue, it will soon be more cost-effective to produce salmon in land-based systems. In the large growth markets that require air transport, land-based production will also be more environmentally friendly. If I were Norway’s prime minister, this development […]

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