SalMar Becomes Latest Salmon Farmer to Announce Layoffs; Over 800 Employees Receive Notices

SalMar sent layoff notices to 851 employees at its processing facilities in Frøya and Senja, Norway, explaining that the government’s proposed aquaculture tax “has destroyed the market for long-term fixed-price contracts.”

“Such contracts are usually entered into well in advance of deliveries and are absolutely necessary in order to fill the facilities with enough processing activity,” a translated press release from SalMar read.

The layoffs are mostly associated with further processing at the aforementioned plants, with 696 employees impacted at those sites...

Lerøy Lays Off Over 300 Employees Due to Impacts of Norway’s Tax Proposal

Lerøy Seafood Group announced that it has laid off 339 of its processing employees.

“This is primarily an absolutely terrible situation for our skilled employees who are being made redundant and their families, but also for all the rest of us in Lerøy. Unfortunately, the redundancies will also affect our suppliers and customers,” the company wrote in a news update.

“We want to create as many jobs as possible along the Norwegian coast based on the fish we produce. We no longer get...

Greig Seafood Puts $24 Million Smolt Facility Expansion on Hold Due to Resource Tax Proposal

Norwegian salmon farmer Grieg Seafood’s Rogaland arm has halted its planned expansion of a smolt plant due to uncertainty surrounding the proposed resource tax which will impact aquaculture producers.

Earlier this month, the Norwegian government announced a 40% resource tax on aquaculture, as SeafoodNews reported. The announcement began a string of actions from some of the biggest players in the Norwegian salmon farming industry.

Grieg’s move is just the latest in a long list of frozen investments and stalled projects due to the potential...

After Freezing Investments in Norway, Cermaq Cancels Farming Permits

Salmon producer Cermaq announced that it would freeze investments in Norway following the announcement of a proposed resource tax on both salmon and trout farming of 40%.

Days later, Cermaq has terminated tis purchase of increased biomass capacity based on the traffic light system for NOK 134 million ($13 million). The company said those funds were to be transferred to the Aquaculture Fund which gets distributed to municipalities with farming sites.

“We will terminate the purchase because we do not have sufficient overview of the impact...

Norwegian Salmon Firms Freeze Investments, Halt Expansion Plans Following Resource Tax

Following the announcement of the Norwegian government’s proposal for a 40% resource tax on aquaculture in the country, a collection of major salmon farmers headquartered in Norway have frozen investments and canceled additional farming licenses, along with other actions, in a quick fashion.

The proposal, which was announced on September 27, will impose a resource tax on both salmon and trout farming of 40%, effective from the tax year 2023 for farmers with volumes above 4,000 to 5,000 tons, according to salmon farming giant Mowi...

Norwegian Finance Minister Open to Modifying Proposed Salmon Tax

Norway’s Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said he is open to adjusting the proposed resource tax on aquaculture, according to a local publication. Following the news, shares of Norwegian salmon farmers rallied on Wednesday.

According to the Norwegian publication Klassekampen, Vedum said talks in the Storting, the country’s supreme legislature, in the spring will be where the final tax decisions will take shape.

“Although there has been a lot of noise now, I hope that several parties will agree that we need a certain ground rent tax. The broader...

Over 8,000MT Passed Over During Norwegian Farmed Salmon Auction

Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries wrapped up its 2022 auction of new salmon and rainbow trout farming permits and several notable players in the sector were absent from the bidding, leaving 8,243 metric tons unsold.

In total, 24,644MT of maximum allowable biomass (MTB) was awarded for roughly NOK 3.8 billion ($357 million). 32,887MT was offered but just over 8,000MT wasn’t purchased. 22 companies were involved in the auction this year as well.

Ahead of the auction, a pair of industry organizations called for its postponement while the industry...

Norway Royal Salmon Won’t Dare to Expand, Invest in Norway Due to Tax Proposal

Norway Royal Salmon (NRS), one of the major salmon farmers in Norway, announced it would cancel its purchase of 370 metric tons of maximum permitted biomass for a total value of NOK 62 million ($6 million).

SeafoodNews covered the proposed resource tax on salmon and trout farming in Norway, which led to a lengthy list of the regions aquaculture companies, including Mowi, Cermaq and others, to either cancel additional biomass purchases and halt expansion and investments in the country...