Monitoring and regulation of marine aquaculture in Norway

Abstract

Norwegian marine aquaculture is dominated by the production of salmon and rainbow trout. The Ministry of Fisheries is the main authority responsible for the licensing of new farms (1 licence = 12 000 m3> production volume) and the control of the industry. There is a tight co-operation with other authorities (such as environment, disease control, local government and labour) and the aquaculture industry. The aquaculture industry in Norway is strictly regulated, with an obligation to keep very detailed records at each farm. The regulatory system is based on environmental standards, set to meet the requirements for different kinds of use (such as aquaculture, recreation and fishing). It is left to the local authorities to set the limits allowed for each farm. Increasingly, the Modelling Ongrowing fish farms Monitoring system, or parts of it, is used to regulate the production and environmental impact of aquaculture at the farm level. Norway follows the EU regulations regarding food quality standards and the licensing process for medicines and pesticides, with a zero-detection limit for permitted levels of medicines and pesticides in aquaculture products at harvesting. The control system for the use of medicines in Norwegian aquaculture makes it possible to have detailed records of the use of all medicines at site level. Norway has the most detailed database registration of this kind in the world.