Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into fjords match the raw discharge of millions of people, according to a new study<\/p>\n
Fish farms in Norway release three times more waste into fjords than the country\u2019s entire population produces, new research has suggested.
\nThe findings come from the Sunstone Institute, an Oslo-based research group, which calculated the volume of fish excrement and uneaten feed discharged directly into coastal waters by nearly a thousand fjord-based farms in Norway.
\nLast year, \u201cthe nitrogen and phosphorus in this waste were equivalent to the raw sewage from 17.2 million and 20 million people, respectively,\u201d the report said. \u201cTriple the toilet waste from an entire country,\u201d it added. Norway\u2019s population is about 5.5 million.
\nThe discharge has significant environmental consequences, the report argues. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus trigger algal blooms which, as they decompose, deplete oxygen and create \u201cdead zones\u201d where marine life struggles to survive. Uneaten feed drifting from cages also attracts wild fish, exposing them to elevated nutrient levels and degraded conditions.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Discarded plastic causes Alzheimer\u2019s-like damage in seabirds \u2013 study<\/p>\n
The findings stand in contrast to Norway\u2019s reputation as a global environmental leader. In the 2024 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), compiled by Yale and Columbia universities, the country ranked 7th out of 180 nations and placed 2nd globally for environmental health.
\nNorwegian authorities have not yet commented on the findings. Industry representatives have pushed back, with the Norwegian Seafood Federation telling the Guardian that current production remains \u201cwell within nature\u2019s carrying capacity\u201d and that there is no documented proof that operations are damaging fjords.
\nThe sector is a major pillar of Norway\u2019s economy. With the second-longest coastline in the world, the country is the largest producer of farmed salmon, accounting for more than half of global output. It supplies markets across Europe, the US and Asia, exporting 106,000 tonnes worth over $1.1 billion in March alone, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Russian seafood still sold in EU despite fishy sanctions \u2013 Euractiv<\/p>\n
The industry is dominated by a handful of large Norwegian-based companies, including Mowi, the world\u2019s largest salmon farmer, Ler\u00f8y Seafood Group, and SalMar. Profits are concentrated among these major players. Mowi\u2019s largest shareholder, shipping magnate John Fredriksen, ranks 118th on Forbes\u2019 2026 global billionaires list with a net worth of $21.2 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into fjords match the raw discharge of millions of people, according to a new study Fish farms in Norway release three times more waste into fjords…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}