A major auction of salmon farming licenses was held by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries last week, but with major companies sitting out the round, hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue to rural communities will be lost, one industry association says.

With a total of 32,887 metric tons up for grabs in the auction, just 24,644 metric tons of capacity was sold for a value of NOK 3.8 billion (€367 million/$ 357 million), leaving 8,243 metric tons, or roughly 25 percent, unclaimed.