Norway has a long coastline with clean, cold water and plenty of space. This provides us with excellent natural conditions for fish farming. During the 40 years in which fish farming has been practised in Norway, it has developed into a major industry that produces good, healthy seafood and provides important workplaces and values for Norway. Today, aquaculture is an established business in more than 160 municipalities the length of Norway, from Lillesand in the south to Sør-Varanger in the north. In 2009, the value of the Norwegian aquaculture industry’s seafood exports totalled NOK 26 billion. This is almost 60 per cent of the total value of all seafood exports from Norway. In 2009, exports of Norwegian salmon alone totalled NOK 23.7 billion.
Food safety, environmental considerations and work associated with the health and welfare of fish are given high priority in the management of Norway’s aquaculture industry. The Strategy for an Environmentally Sustainable Norwegian Aquaculture Industry prioritises the environmental aspects of sustainability in aquaculture. A sustainable aquaculture industry is an industry that is run in an environmentally responsible way and which is adapted to take particular account of the marine environment and its biological diversity. The strategy identifies the issues, sets goals and clarifies what is required to achieve them.
On 28 June the French TV-Channel France 3 aired a program focusing on the risk of consuming foodstuffs that may contain elements that are not safe for consumers. The program concerned contaminants in foodstuffs imported into France, such as fish, fruits and vegetables, as well as meat and poultry. Ahead of the program, the French Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Bruno Le Maire contacted the Norwegian Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lisbeth Berg-Hansen. He had queries in relation to Norwegian farming of salmon, especially with regard to the use of medicines in the fight against sea lice.
Fish and other seafood have a high content of numerous nutrients and are a good source of proteins, fat - particularly the long polyunsaturated marine n-3 fatty acids - vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and iodine.
Analyses carried out in 2009 by Norway’s National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research of samples from approximately 9.000 farmed salmon revealed that the content of undesirable substances is similar to levels measured in mackerel and herring. Concentrations were found to be low compared with the upper limits set by the EU. The total content of dioxins (from 2002) and dioxin-like PCBs (from 2006), as well as non-dioxin-like PCBs, shows a decline, while heavy metals show a low, stable trend. Determinations of pharmaceutical chemicals in farmed salmon during the last decade show no residues of illegal pharmaceuticals or residues of legally used pharmaceuticals that exceed internationally accepted concentrations. The monitoring therefore documents that farmed fish is safe to eat.
In the strategy for an environmentally sustainable aquaculture industry, one of the key environmental challenges, along with salmon lice, is considered to be escaped fish. The challenge here concerns issues of genetics, ecology and the risk of spreading disease. For the industry, escaped fish mean economic loss in addition to the negative impact it has on the industry’s image. Efforts to prevent fish from escaping are given high priority, and both the industry and the authorities are working on a broad front to minimise losses caused by escaped fish.
The strategy for an environmentally sustainable aquaculture industry states that farmed fish shall be fed with fish from well-managed stocks, thereby avoiding further depletion of marine resources.
Preventive measures aimed at maintaining as good a health status among fish as possible is vital to minimise the use of pharmaceuticals, limit mortality and reduce the risk of spreading contagious diseases to feral fish. Therefore the emphasis is on ensuring a nutritional structure and operational practices in the aquaculture industry that contribute to good fish health.
Discharges of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic material by the aquaculture sector are a minor environmental problem in Norway. A long coastline and use of aquaculture facilities with frequent exchange of water and good water quality are contributory factors. In many regions, fish farms are located in relatively deep fjords and parts of the coast with good recipient conditions, where sustainability and self-cleansing qualities are relatively good.
