The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries on Monday awarded Grieg Seafood three development permits for its offshore salmon farming concept Blue Farm, planned for the Rogaland region.

The permits cover 2,340 metric tons of maximum allowable biomass and last eight years from when the permit is issued.

The company originally applied for 10 development licenses in 2016 for Blue Farm, a tension-anchored concrete closed containment concept.

Norwegian authorities rejected the development permits in 2018, citing a risk of environmental damage.

As of August 2020, 82 applications for development permits had been rejected. Of those, 12 chose not to appeal the decisions.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has processed 36 objections to the refusals, while 34 cases remain pending.

Two appeal rejections have been upheld by the Ministry, and were sent to the Directorate of Fisheries for reconsideration. One of the two is Grieg Seafood's Blue Farm.

Norway's aquaculture development licenses
  • Developed to encourage innovation and increased sustainability in salmonid farming
  • Licenses are granted free of charge, but can potentially be converted to ordinary licenses for NOK 10 million (€1 million/$1.2 million) per license. One license equals 780 metric tons of maximum allowable biomass
  • The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries received more than 104 applications for 898 licenses

Source: Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries