Fishing owner Carl Aamodt had around a quarter of a billion kroner in sales revenue excluding fish from 2016 to 2020. This money came mainly from the sale of fishing quotas and boats, according to Aamodt. Many of the boats and quotas the fishing owner never used himself, before he resold them. On the quay in Tromsø, fisherman Johan Eide shakes his head at this type of trade. – This is not how it should be. There are many people who don’t get quotas because the big ones get away with everything, he says. Fisherman Johan Eide believes that quota sales should not be open. – That shouldn’t happen. One boat, one quota. Photo: Simen Wingstad / Simen Wingstad/news How much profit Aamodt has from quota and boat trading alone is difficult to determine. But in 2017, he sold fish for approximately NOK 7.5 million. This year, his shipping company had NOK 95 million in sales revenue and NOK 29.6 million in profit. After news’s case, SV and Rødt asked the government to take action to prevent quota speculation. Speculation means that quotas are bought and sold with the aim of making money. Fisheries Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap) says that there are some who are good at quota trading. – There will always be examples of people who have made money from quota trading. That in itself is nothing crazy. Requests for action Geir Adelsten Iversen from the Center Party does not think it is right that quotas are bought and sold without being used. – Basically, I am not in favor of buying and selling quotas, says the parliamentary representative. Geir Adelsten Iversen (Sp) refers to the Hurdal platform, and says that he expects the government to take action on quota trading. Photo: Gyda Hesla/news What allowances are sold for is not public information. But strong price growth means that those who sell fishing quotas earn large sums, news has previously shown. Adelsten Sivertsen expects the Sp government to be part of taking action to manage the quota market. – It worries me that quota prices are increasing enormously. And when the prices go up, I’m very afraid that it will become so expensive that ordinary people can’t afford to buy them. Read also: Explosive debt growth at the top fisheries Asking for action Aamodt has said that the quotas news mentions are far smaller than those he owns today. Furthermore, he has stated that the system of purchase and sale quotas has been necessary and is a success. – For us fishermen, both vessels and fishing rights are expensively bought assets in the companies’ accounts. Being able to buy and sell quotas has been necessary for both large and small fishermen, owner Carl Aamodt (33) previously told news. Photo: Torbjørn Brovold / news It has never been the intention in the legislation that someone should get rich by trading with the community’s resources, law professor Svein Arntzen has stated to news. But it’s not illegal. In recent years, a number of rule changes have made it easier to trade fishing quotas. – In any case, there has been broad agreement about the regulations we have, Skjæran answers when asked if the rules follow the intention of the legislation. The Center Party’s Adelsten Iversen says that it is possible for the fisheries minister to plug holes in the system. – And I hope that will be done. Billions of dollars at stake What the government will do with quota trading, the fisheries minister will not say until they present the quota report. Collecting the quotas on fewer fishing boats has been necessary to make the industry profitable and attractive, Skjæran believes. – At the same time, we are keen to stop the centralization that has taken place in recent years. This is about balance policy. Skjæran mentions several steps they can take. – It is about ownership restrictions, how high the quota ceiling is and not least the handling of the structural quotas that expire in the coming years. The quota announcement was what occupied the fishermen in the hall, when Bjørnar Skjæran was at Leknes this spring. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news Fisherman Johan Eide in Tromsø has been fishing since he was 14 years old. He has been through economic crises and boom times. He believes that the quotas today are not fairly distributed. – It must be fair and reasonable for everyone. It is the people’s fish.
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– Nothing crazy – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
