The case in summary • The salmon giants Mowi and Lerøy want to be notified before the Norwegian Food Safety Authority comes for an inspection. • Alf-Gøran Knutsen from Kvarøy Fish Farming believes that the farming industry is losing confidence and that the industry must admit that they have a problem. • Professor emeritus Trygve Poppe at the Veterinary College in Oslo believes that there is too much focus on money and too little on animal welfare in the industry. • Øyvind André Haram, communications manager at Sjømat Noreg, admits that they have a reputational problem, but emphasizes that they are working to improve fish health. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. This week it emerged that the salmon giants Mowi and Lerøy will be notified before the Norwegian Food Safety Authority comes for an inspection. In the past, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority had to get a ride from the farming company in order to check. But now they have an agreement with the Coast Guard to use their boats. Therefore, they can come up with surprising inspections. On 21 September, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority therefore paid a surprise visit to Lerøy Seafood’s facility in Reitholmen, outside Hitra, and uncovered gross violations of laws for the handling of fish. On Friday last week, this was mentioned in the news program Nytt på Nytt. Environmental activist Gina Gylver from Nature and Youth criticized the farming industry again in Nytt, Friday 03.11 – This is an industry through and through, said the Norwegian environmentalist Gina Gylver there. – It is completely insane that such wretched standards were allowed and allowed to continue. Now a salmon farmer from Nordland believes that the industry must realize that they have a problem. – We are about to lose trust Alf-Gøran Knutsen works at Kvarøy Fish Farming, which is located on a small island on the coast of Helgeland. He believes that the issues that have come to light in the last week are problematic for the entire industry. – Now we are losing confidence, he says. Manager of Kvarøy Fish Farming, Alf-Gøran Knutsen, believes that the industry must admit that they have a problem and speak openly about it. Photo: Kvarøy Fish Farming / Janita Zenteno – We do not talk openly about the problems with biological production. We tend to bury our heads in the sand. – We cannot make excuses, but must have solutions and explanations. – It does not give an image of confidence in what we are doing, if we are to be notified of an unannounced inspection, says Alf-Gøran Knutsen, manager of Kvarøy Fish Farming. Photo: Kvarøy Fish Farming / Janita Zenteno In the infancy of the farming industry, about 50 years ago, Knutsen says that the pioneers were more open and shared their knowledge. He thinks he is about to disappear now. – It is a question of fish welfare. The more space the fish have, the better off they are. We clearly see that this is the case. With good salmon prices, they have had more to mess with. Knutsen says that they have chosen to invest in order to produce better. In the farming industry, there is a requirement that there should be no more than 25 kg of fish per cubic metre. Kvarøy Fish Farming has chosen to lower this limit. They must not have more than 20 kg of fish per cubic meter Photo: Kvarøy Fish Farming / Janita Zenteno – Why don’t all farmers do it, now that the salmon price is good? – The other salmon producers are also doing their best. Huge investments are made in all companies. But what we do, we have to do as a team. We think we have part of the solution, but not everything. Salmon farmer Alf-Gøran Knutsen thinks Gina Gylver in Natur og Ungdom is too strict with the industry. – I think she needs to spend some time familiarizing herself with the standards we actually have. Photo: Kvarøy Fish Farming / Janita Zenteno About 58 million fish die in the industry each year, according to the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research’s annual risk report. Knutsen thinks that is too much. But he points out that the industry is still young. They have only reached the 14th generation of salmon. – There is a lot of potential for improvement, but then we must first admit that we have a problem. – Sensible speech This recognition goes to professor emeritus Trygve Poppe at the Veterinary College in Oslo. – This is an extremely sensible speech, he says. Poppe knows the industry well, and has worked with fish health for over 40 years. He believes there are many good people in the industry. Professor emeritus Trygve Poppe at the Veterinary College in Oslo believes that the industry’s own professional organization denies any discomfort in the industry. Photo: Pharmaq Analytic – But the big problem is that there is starting to be so much money and such big companies that there is less and less livestock production, and more and more tough business. And he believes that the industry’s own trade association, Sjømat Noreg, is not doing much to remedy that impression. – They are exceptionally bad at handling the challenges that exist in the industry. Instead, they are world champions in denying all discomfort in the industry, says the professor. – The farming industry has said that animal welfare is their most important priority for 10-15 years. And that they work to improve themselves. Then I expect to see results, says Professor Trygve Poppe. Photo: Mowi / NPK – But it is a young industry. Shouldn’t we allow a little starting problem? – There will be a few childhood illnesses, but on the other hand, fish farming is not so different from other livestock farming. The professor believes that the farming industry should take with it much more experience from traditional livestock farming. Photo: Marius Andre Jenssen Stenberg / news – One should realize that keeping so many animals together in a concentrated area leads to great infection pressure and serious problems. The professor says that this is the case with all animals, including humans. This is Sjømat Noreg’s response to Professor Poppe’s criticism Managing Director of Sjømat Noreg, Geir Ove Ystmark, says the mortality rate has been stable over time, and on a par with other meat production. – It varies between parts of the country and companies. Our goal is for the mortality rate to decrease, says Ystmark. – Fish health and fish welfare are important for the entire industry. It has been the focus of the organization and top management in the company over time. In the past year, he says that they have worked with binding solutions that will help reduce infection pressure between facilities. – All companies, large and small, are concerned with keeping mortality down. Poor welfare and high fish mortality are also bad finances for the companies, says the managing director. – We would also like to have a meeting with Poppe to hear his assessments. – Not trying to explain away Øyvind André Haram, communications manager at Sjømat Noreg says that they work with reputation every day, all week. – Do they have a reputation problem? – It is clear that the image news has published this week is not good. It cannot be dismissed that such images do not help to strengthen people’s perception of aquaculture. Øyvind André Haram, communications manager at Sjømat Noreg says that, for example, there has been a decrease in cases of illnesses such as ILA and PD in the past year. Photo: SJØMAT NORGE Nevertheless, the communications manager points out that the situation can be demanding for some companies. – Many will claim that it is to be explained away. But we don’t try to do that. In the production of salmon, mortality is something that happens. It is common in biology. Gill disease, for example, is something he says they haven’t seen much of before. Haram does not agree that the industry is so young, and believes that they have made great progress, for example, since they used antibiotics to cure salmon disease 20 years ago. Photo: Norwegian Food Safety Authority – Seafood Norway has been working for over a year to see how fish health can be improved. It won’t happen overnight. I can guarantee that people are working to reduce mortality. – Do you agree that they can learn a part of other livestock production as well? – It is difficult to compare agricultural production and salmon production. The salmon live in water with currents to name a few, he says. The communications manager says it is important that together with professional expertise, they make the right move to stop mortality in salmon in the future as well. Photo: Kvarøy Fish Farming / Janita Zenteno – It is too easy to say that there is more disease when you have many animals together. – Why do you think so many fish die? – There can be many different reasons. Parasites and bacteria are common in biology. It can come suddenly and cause fish to die, says Haram. Winner of “The cartoon series of the year 2023”, Flu Hartberg, and champion of “a livable year 2050”, Gina Gylver, summarizes the news in a satirical way. Join!
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Kvarøy Fish Farming believes salmon farming must admit they have a problem – news Nordland
