© Frode Ersfjord
Since the 1980s, Norway's wild salmon populations have declined by as much as 50 percent, experts estimate, with their numbers falling from around 1 million to about 500,000 over recent decades. The cause of these population declines is complex, but it is widely understood that the changing global climate, along with anthropogenic pollution, is largely to blame.
It is also held by some that the growth of industrial aquaculture has contributed to declines in wild salmon populations, although this continues to be contested by the industry.
Whilst acknowledging that he views the decline of wild salmon populations as "an existential threat," Norway's minister for climate and the environment, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, has firmly ruled out a ban on open-net salmon farming, emphasising his goal to support food production, industrial activity, and growth.
"If you look at the aquaculture industry, they produce food, that is really important to people all over the world, and the goal is to be able to produce that food sustainably in the future,” he said, as reported by the Guardian.
"My main issue is therefore not with the production itself, it’s with the pollution and the impact that pollution has on the environment. That is what we need to tackle,” he added.
Following his dismissal of any bans on open-net salmon farming, such as those recently implemented in British Columbia and Washington State, Eriksen stated his belief the industry simply requires regulation which incentivises strong production and controlled levels of pollution.
"There are levels of pollution that the environment can tackle and that can be within limits that wild Atlantic salmon stocks can tackle as well. So finding that level is really what we need to go forward," he concluded.
