Norway’s planned 4% growth in salmon production this year may be halved by harmful algal blooms which it is now estimated could be responsible for the deaths of up to eight million fish.

The majority of the Icelandic Parliament’s Business Committee wants to change the Aquaculture Act so that all fish farm operating licences will have a limited lifespan, reports the country’s national broadcasting service, Ríkisútvarpið (RUV). 

Mowi is to spend €42 million on building a highly automated and modern smokehouse on the site of a French processing plant destroyed by fire in July last year, and on associated industrial and social reorganisation.

Norway’s Fisheries Directorate has increased its estimate of the salmon industry’s financial loss from algal blooms in the north of the country to NOK720 million (£65m).

Opinion: Heather Jones, chief executive of the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre, says technological advancement is key to the sustainability required for the industry to grow.

Scottish Sea Farms made less money in the first three months of 2019 than in the corresponding period last year, according to a quarterly report published by its Norwegian joint owner, SalMar, today.

Mowi Scotland today confirmed accusations made in a BBC Panorama documentary last night that it had breached biomass licence conditions at its farms “46 times over the last decade”.

Governments from around the world are considering how best to safeguard the rapidly expanding $5 billion-per-year global seaweed industry after advice from researchers at the Oban-based Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) prompted a change of direction by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The F3 Fish Oil Challenge, a competition to accelerate the commercial-scale use of “fish-free” oil in aquafeed, has doubled its prize pay-out to US$200,000.

Mowi Ireland has lodged a robust appeal against a decision by Ireland’s agriculture and marine minister, Michael Creed, to revoke its licence for a salmon farm in County Kerry.

Salmon farmer Grieg Seafood has reported positive results for the first quarter of 2019, with a harvest volume of 14,800 tonnes – up 30% compared to the same period last year – and operating profit (EBIT) of NOK267 million (£23.6m), up from NOK162m in Q1 2018.

A new model of fish farm personnel shuttle designed to cope with the rough waters of northern Norway is being offered for sale to Scottish salmon farmers.

Salmon pen manufacturer Gael Force Fusion hopes to create eight new jobs after successfully bidding for the former Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary premises at Barcaldine near Oban.