Norway’s Fish Farming This photo program focuses on Norway’s fish farm industry that accounts for more than 80 percent of the total Norwegian aquaculture production. ‐ fao.org “Aquaculture in Norway dates back to 1850 when the first brown trout (Salmo trutta trutta ) were hatched. By around 1900 rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were imported from Denmark and the first attempts at pond culture were initiated. An increase in interest was shown after World War II followed by a breakthrough in the early 1960s when for the first‐time rainbow trout was successfully transferred to sea water. The first successful on‐growing of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar ) also took place during this same period. A technological breakthrough came around 1970 when the first cage was constructed. On‐growing in cages proved to be safer and provided much better environmental conditions than onshore tanks or the various enclosures that had been used earlier, particularly about salmon farming. The long and sheltered coastline of Norway, with its thousands of islands and inlets, as well as the Gulf stream providing a reliable and stable temperature, has been proven to provide excellent opportunities for this kind of intensive fish farming (Trygve, 1993). Today, salmon and rainbow trout farming has developed into a major business along the majority of the Norwegian coast.” ‐ fao.org We traveled nearly 40 miles from Bergen, Norway to Øygarden in the County of Hordaland, a municipality that is 26 sq. mi. and includes over 550 islands and skerries with a population of nearly 5,000. People in the region are called ‘fisherman‐ farmers’ because the major industry is aquaculture with salmon, sea trout, cod and shellfish. There we visited the Øygarden Visningssenter (Aquaculture Centre) which specializes in the production of salmon and trout. The Centre has been in operation since August 2009. It also includes a Coastal Museum (which is in another photo program). The following are some facts from our guide’s talk at the fish farm: An individual cage (ring) at the fish farm is in approximately 330 feet of water. The cage‐ net is 131 feet deep and the ring is approximately 394 feet in circumference. There are 100,000 fish in each cage. By rule 97.5% of the volume of the cage must be water with 2.5% of that fish. Reason, the fish need oxygen and space to move around. They are in the cage for one year. When the fish reach 11 pounds they can be harvested. Whale boats are used and as the net is risen the fish will be pumped through a pipe. They will be counted; any dead fish will be accounted for also during the process and reported to officials. A whale boat can harvest 100 ton of fish per week. It will take 5 weeks to empty a cage. Birds and sea lice are two major enemies of the fish in this region. Sea lice are small parasites. If they attach to the fish as they grow they will feed on the fish mucus and skin cells and make them vulnerable to other disease. A shield (skirt) is placed around each cage that goes down into the water 16 feet. Sea lice are not found below that level. However, if a cage is infested here, a whale boat is brought in. It will upload the entire load of fish in the cage. The crew will then use hot water to bathe the fish as they return to another cage. The hot water will not hurt the salmon but will kill the sea lice. Sea Gulls and Heron (Egrets or Bitterns) are also enemies of the farmed fish found here. The use of nets helps to keep the birds from eating the fish, however the Heron is very cunning. They will find any opening in the nets. One Heron was filmed. He got into one of the cages and consumed 50 fish before stopping. The industry takes great care in collecting high quality roe to be used for the next crop to be harvested later. Norway prides itself in maintaining high quality in their fish farming industry. On the way to Øygarden Oil and gas rigs are repaired in the area and a local fisherman’s boat Fish cycle information at the boat house Taking a rib boat out to the fish farm Watch the “Fish Farming” presentation on YouTube for a closer operation at fish cage Sources: Booklet “Wild and Øygarden Authentic,” http://www.salmoncenter.no/en/welcome, http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_norway/en, https://bergen2017.no/bergen‐and‐the‐region/oygarden/, http://www.miljodirektoratet.no/en/Areas‐of‐activity1/Species‐and‐ecosystems/Salmon‐trout‐and‐Arctic‐char/Pressures‐on‐salmonids/Sea‐lice/ and https://www.oygarden.kommune.no/informasjon‐in‐english/about‐oygarden‐municipality/. acuri.net John R. Vincenti Norway’s Fish Farming .