The EU's probe into a potential "salmon cartel" may not end up amounting to much once the facts are investigated by the European Commission.

Investigations such as these are common, according to Bård Misund, an associate professor in marine economics at the University of Stavanger School of Business, who noted that the EU takes on similar investigations -- and often without any result.

For example, he referred to Statoil -- now Equinor -- who received a visit from the EU in 2013. Statoil was then suspected of manipulating oil prices and risked NOK 70 billion in fines.

The investigation was stopped in 2015.

Another Norwegian salmon industry source agreed, and told IntraFish the EU pricing authorities regularly conduct such surveys in other industries.

"There is nothing unnatural or any drama in this," the source said.

Earlier this week the news broke that EU authorities raided the UK operations of Norwegian owned salmon companies, including Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms, and Grieg Seafood, over allegations of price fixing.

Trond Davidsen, deputy director of Seafood Norway, declined to speak specifically to the allegations, but noted the reasons behind high salmon prices are well documented.

"Yes, the salmon in the EU is too expensive," Davidsen told IntraFish. "But the main reason is that production is heavily regulated. This has consequences for both prices and supply and is true in all countries.

"Demand is higher than supply, and therefore you get higher prices."

Unclear focus

Though Mowi's offices in the Netherlands were raided as part of the EC investigation, the other raids confirmed by IntraFish so far were only conducted in Scotland, UK. It remains unclear if the investigation is related to Scottish production, however. One Scottish industry source told IntraFish the investigation was focused on Norwegian salmon supply, not Scottish salmon.

Scotland is the world's third-largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon, after Norway and Chile.

According to Kontali Analyze, in 2018 almost 140,000 metric tons of salmon were harvested in Scotland. About half was slaughtered by the three Norwegian-owned companies operating in the country. In total, there are just seven salmon producers in Scotland.

According to the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), the bulk of the salmon from Scotland is exported to France, the United States and China.

In 2016, the total market for salmon was around 266,000 metric tons (round weight) in the UK, according to a survey conducted by the NSC.

About half of the salmon came from Scotland -- including that from companies owned by the Norwegian players -- while Norway's market share in the EU was around 44 percent.