Lerøy boss: Don’t chase us on to land

Henning Beltestad, chief executive of Scottish Sea Farms co-owner Lerøy Seafood, was ready in his speech to a packed hall in the Grieghallen in Bergen today during one of the many events in One Ocean week in the city. Among others in the room were Norway’s fisheries minister Bjørnar Skjæran and Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg.

“We will use the sea, yes, but what worries me is that the production of seafood has levelled off. We no longer have growth, and it has been like that for many years now. We need growth,” said Beltestad, whose company is Norway's third-largest salmon farmer and produced 161,500 gutted weight tonnes of fish in the country in 2021.

He pointed to a terrific development in terms of export value in recent years, but a stagnation in volume, both in farming and in the fisheries.

Innovations

According to Beltestad, Lerøy Seafood aims to become the world’s most sustainable seafood producer. Lerøy Seafood Group is large in both wild fish and farming. The company has 10 factory trawlers in the fleet, several processing plants along the coast, and not least many fish farms.

“Our goal is to take care of the whole fish and process it in Norway,” he said, adding that the industry and authorities have everything to gain from closer dialogue and cooperation.

Among other things, he pointed to many of the technological innovations that have come in the wake of the so-called development concessions, including the Egg and the Preline concept.

“Calculations show that the supremely cheapest way to produce salmon is in open cages in the sea. Therefore the authorities must follow up with incentives that contribute to technological development,” he said and concluded with the call to politicians and other audience members in the hall: “Don't chase us ashore.”