Lerøy Seafood Group does not get contracts for further processing of salmon. They justify this with the ground rent tax, also called salmon tax – an additional tax for the use of our shared natural resources. The government is introducing ground rent tax on aquaculture and wind power. This will increase tax revenues by around NOK 33 billion annually. Now Lerøy Seafood Group is laying off 339 employees across the country from the new year. 158 of them work in the cornerstone company on Skjervøy in Nord-Troms, which will then only have 22 employees left. The affected companies are: Lerøy Aurora AS, Skjervøy, 158 employees laid off Lerøy Midt AS, two plants at Hitra, 125 employees laid off Lerøy Fossen AS, Osterøy, 56 employees laid off Laying off employees and halting development General Manager at Lerøy Aurora, Kurt-Einar Karlsen , says it has not been possible to get new contracts for salmon processing. That, together with the proposal to introduce ground rent tax, is the reason for the indefinite layoffs. General manager at Lerøy Aurora, Kurt-Einar Karlsen Photo: Hans-Ludvig Andreassen / news – To be in a situation where I have to give a layoff notice to the same employees who have helped build the adventure on Skjervøy, I think it is completely terrible, says Karlsen. The farming giant decided to stop the development of a planned fillet factory on Skjervøy in October on the basis of the ground rent tax. The facility would cost NOK 420 million and create 30 new jobs. Karlsen believes that several farming companies will also find themselves having to lay off employees and put developments on hold. – Unfortunately, it is the case that the government’s proposal affects everyone involved in processing. It will be a natural consequence that there will be more people who do the same as us, he says. Farming giant stops development after the government’s tax increase Aina Vallan, head of communications in Lerøy Photo: Hans Ludvig Andreassen / news – Uncertainty into Christmas Aina Vallan, head of communications in Lerøy, says the situation is very regrettable. She dismisses that the company is driving employees ahead of them so that the government will put aside the proposal for ground rent tax. – We perceive that it is the government that is driving Lerøy ahead of itself now. When we don’t have customers for our products, we can’t produce them either. Then, unfortunately, we cannot have employees at the facilities either. Ørjan Albrigtsen, mayor of Skjervøy. Photo: Eirik Hind Sveen / news Ørjan Albrigtsen (KrF) is the mayor of Skjervøy, where Lerøy is a cornerstone company. He says there are many emotions at play, when Lerøy has now gone from announcing the news of investing NOK 400 million, to the fact that layoff notices are now being sent out. – Lerøy is incredibly important for the municipality, and is by far the largest workplace. The fact that so many are affected and that it creates uncertainty for employees in the run-up to Christmas, affects our society colossally, says Albrigtsen.
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The breeding company Lerøy is laying off close to 350 employees – news Troms and Finnmark
