November 12, 2025

 

Norwegian fund to disburse over US$138 million to towns, counties with aquaculture activities

 

 

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has announced that its Aquaculture Fund will pay towns and counties with aquaculture activities over kr1.4 billion (US$138 million) this year.

 

The Aquaculture Fund, founded in 2015, equitably distributes income from the aquaculture industry to the areas of the country that host it.

 

The fund operates in two year cycles, drawing its proceeds from sales of new aquaculture permits, which are auctioned every other year, as well as from fees related to salmon farming. Since no new permits were auctioned this year, the 2025 payment is lower than last year's record of kr4.7 billion (USD 464 million).

 

Still, the two year total, which reached kr6.1 billion (US$602 million), "is the largest total payment in a two-year allocation period," Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss said in a release. "The payment comes without any strings attached, and the municipalities are free to assess for themselves how the money best contributes to creating welfare for their residents."

 

The government said that the payments would come from the Directorate of Fisheries "soon."

 

"This means a lot for the coast," Sivertsen Næss added. "Through the Aquaculture Fund, we ensure that local communities that make sea areas available for aquaculture can take part in value creation. The money gives municipalities greater room for manoeuvre to invest in welfare services and local development for their residents."

 

Additionally, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has announced a review of the standards which consultants are currently using to assess the escape prevention strategies of land-based aquaculture facilities. 

 

The review will involve a document inspection of the condition analyses that the government requires from land-based aquaculture sites. These analyses require that farming firms produce an account of the conditions on the farm, a risk assessment, and a maintenance plan.

 

The directorate said that the review is the second step in a process that began earlier in the year, when it met with representatives of the consulting industry to discuss needed improvements.

 

"We want to see if the consultants have improved when it comes to verifiable assessments in the condition analyses," Directorate Section Manager for Strategic Aquaculture Supervision Britt Leikvoll said.

 

In a release about the review, the directorate said it was most interested in seeing observations, assessments, and conclusions documented clearly in ways that "makes the reasoning [for decisions] verifiable."

 

- SeafoodSource