Seafood Norway (Sjømat Norge) has submitted its consultation response to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries' proposed amendments to facilitate offshore aquaculture, supporting the main content of the proposal.
The industry association stated that it believes the ministry is creating good conditions for the establishment of offshore aquaculture in a holistic and long-term manner.
In its submission, Seafood Norway provided specific input on several key areas of the proposed framework.
The association supports the transition from advance commitments to area commitments, which would give companies the exclusive right and obligation to prepare area plans, providing better predictability. It argues that these area plans should be a central management tool for the entire life cycle of a project.
Regarding production capacity, Seafood Norway believes it should be determined based on the area plan and assessed on factors such as biosecurity and technology, rather than by a simple announcement.
The group also stated that for the first allocation round, there should be a competitive application process rather than an auction, with clear competence requirements and the possibility of pre-qualification for potential operators.
Finally, the association called for a clear and binding progress plan for the implementation of the new framework and the start of the competition, with sufficient time between the announcement and the application deadline to ensure high-quality applications.