Record-High Production Beats Traffic Light Scheme – NRK Vestland

– Problems are still big. There is a critical need to change the way the industry is managed, says research leader Mari Myksvoll at the Norwegian Marine Research Institutetutted.

The recent risk report for Norwegian fish farming in 2026 shows major challenges. Here are some highlights:

• Poor animal welfare in farms and negative effects of salmon lice on wild fish are still the biggest obstacles to achieving sustainability.
• High water temperatures, more fish in the sea and more frequent lice removal have worsened the situation in recent years.
• Figures from the Directorate of Fisheries show that 67 million farmed salmon were lost in 2025. Over 54 million of these died in cages. There are slightly fewer than the previous year, but still high.

Nevertheless, production is record high. An increase of 200,000 tonnes of fish from 2024 to 2025 constitutes the largest annual growth in the period 1980-2025.

This is happening in defiance of the traffic light scheme that was supposed to regulate production, and the increase surprises the researchers.

– Shouldn’t have been possible

The scheme with traffic lights in the farming industry was introduced in 2017 and put into use the following year. It divides the coast into 13 areas, which are colored green, yellow or red.

The colors show how much salmon lice affect wild salmon in the area, and determine whether the breeders are allowed to grow, maintain production capacity or whether they have to reduce capacity.

Two areas in Western Norway are colored red. Nevertheless, production is also increasing here, the report shows.

– I thought it was surprising, because I had expected that production in the area, which has been red throughout the period, would decrease, says research manager Mari Myksvoll.

– The traffic light system was introduced precisely because the challenges were already so great at that time. And it hasn’t gotten much better. In that sense, I can say that it is high time to find a solution to this.

The reduction in production at red light applies to the total amount breeders are allowed to produce. The increase can therefore be explained by the fact that breeders have used possible production more.

– We are constantly optimizing production. It will always happen in parallel with all regulation. There is also a small increase in red and yellow areas, but it increases much more in green areas, says Øyvind Oaland, who is CEO of Mowi Norway.

He still believes that the traffic light system does not work optimally, and believes there is a need to evaluate the management of the aquaculture industry.

At the same time as the report comes, Mowi reports on record high revenues, and prospects for even more growth this year.

Oaland says the findings in the report are not surprising, and believes that the development in fish health is positive. He points out, among other things, that there is a decline in mortality.

– It would basically be impossible for production to increase when the light is red. This helps to explain that we are unable to protect the vulnerable wild salmon, believes the leader of the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen.

– The politicians do not dare to take the necessary measures against the farming industry. Then the problem continued to be linked to animal welfare and the environment.

The arrangement will continue until further notice

Last year, the government announced that it would scrap the traffic light scheme. Nevertheless, the arrangement will continue until a new regulatory system is in place, as a majority of the parties in the Storting agreed last summer.

The Ministry of Industry and Fisheries wrote in a reply to NRK that they are in the process of following up on the aquaculture report and the animal welfare report.

– The risk report shows that the farming industry still has major challenges with fish welfare and salmon lice, while production has increased sharply in recent years. This shows how important it is that further growth takes place within a sustainable framework, says Fisheries and Oceans Minister Marianne Sivertsen Næss.

Several parties and interest organizations demand stricter regulation of the farming industry.

Research leader Mari Myksvoll at the Institute of Marine Research says the future is uncertain if action is not taken soon.

– It doesn’t look very good now. The challenge with salmon lice is also spreading northwards. the problem has only gotten bigger and bigger in a large part of the country. So the effect on salmon and sea otters in particular, which stay in the fjords for much longer, is very bad.