Norway's Conservative Party Demands Reversal of 6% Capacity Cut in Production Area 3; Nofima Estimates Combined Reduction of About 45,500 Tonnes Across Three Areas
Thorheim, fisheries policy spokesperson for Norway's Conservative Party (Høyre), has asked the Minister of Fisheries and the Ocean to explain the consequences of the capacity cuts along the west coast, and has proposed in parliament to cancel the newly announced 6% cut in Production Area 3. Nofima previously estimated that the cuts in Production Areas 3, 4 and 5 may have reduced salmon and trout output by about 45,500 tonnes.
Bård Ludvig Thorheim, fisheries policy spokesperson for Norway's Conservative Party (Høyre), has asked Minister of Fisheries and the Ocean Marianne Sivertsen Næss to explain the consequences of the capacity cuts along the west coast (Vestlandet). This follows the Norwegian government's announcement of a new 6% cut in Production Area 3. In an interview with iLaks on 26 October 2026, Thorheim said the Conservative Party believes the latest cut should not be implemented and has tabled a motion in the Storting (Norwegian parliament) to cancel it.
In this summer's "traffic light" assessment, only Production Area 3 among Norway's 13 production areas was given a red light, and the government subsequently announced a 6% cut in farming capacity for that area. "There should be a real balance, but in the hands of the current government, cuts have become an automatic procedure rather than a trade-off," Thorheim said.
Earlier this year, Nofima (Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research) estimated that the cuts in Production Areas 3, 4 and 5 may have reduced salmon and trout output by about 45,500 tonnes, with significant effects on employment, value creation and tax revenue. Thorheim declined to draw conclusions about the precision of Nofima's estimates but said the report illustrates the scale of the consequences. "There is no doubt that a great deal of value creation, local community income, employment and ripple effects have come to a halt," he said.
Thorheim said the minister acknowledged in her reply that the cuts have affected output along the west coast, but maintained that the alternative would increase pressure on wild salmon stocks. Thorheim also said Nofima's report does not cover the latest round of cuts announced for Production Area 3, which he believes will likewise have significant economic consequences. "Several farming companies are already running deficits. We must remember that this cut comes on top of the government doubling the owners' tax burden, introducing the resource rent tax and the standard price committee overnight, and worsening market access to the US," he said.
As an alternative, Thorheim proposed establishing a nationwide environmental flexibility scheme. "Only a nationwide environmental flexibility scheme targeting zero-emission and low-emission solutions can bring sea lice pressure down and drive investment in better environmental technology," he said. He believes the scheme could coexist with current regulation and "would work well alongside the traffic light system until a better system is in place".
Thorheim noted that the Conservative Party submitted a motion last week calling for a halt to the announced cut in Production Area 3, while setting a deadline and specific design for the environmental flexibility scheme. He said the Conservative Party first proposed this solution in 2021 while in government, and accused the current government of "failing" the aquaculture industry.
Thorheim also said the various consequences must be viewed together: "Overall, this is grounds for cancelling the entire round of cuts, since doing so would have no proven environmental effect either. We should wait for the knowledge base that parliament has requested."