Norway’s Salmon Shame

- Auditor General slams industry in damning new report as MPs tour Canada

Oslo, Norway – The Office of the Auditor General of Norway has published a highly critical report on the state of the Norwegian salmon farming industry including problems with escapes, sea lice, pollution offences and diseased farmed salmon. This unprecedented public criticism follows a ground-breaking report last year by the Green Warriors of Norway which exposed the horrors of Norwegian salmon farming. Meanwhile, a delegation of Norwegian MPs and the leader of the Sami Parliament are in Canada this week in an attempt to promote the beleaguered industry. Tomorrow (8 March), the Norwegian delegation visits Quadra Island where protests are expected (full itinerary online here).

Kurt Oddekalv, leader of the Green Warriors of Norway, said:

“The Auditor General’s report echoes what the Green Warriors have been arguing for decades – that Norwegian salmon farming is unsustainable and a pollution hazard. Consumers around the world should rise up in protest against this filthy industry and boycott Norwegian farmed salmon. This report is one more nail in the coffin of the disease-ridden Norwegian salmon farming industry.”

Don Staniford, global coordinator for the Green Warriors of Norway, said:

“Green Warriors of the World must unite to fight the Norwegian fish farming menace. Norwegian-owned salmon farming is spreading infectious diseases, genetic pollution and toxic wastes all over the globe as well as at home in Norway. The salmon farming industry is an international embarrassment to Norway and is threatening Norway’s green and clean image abroad.”

Alexandra Morton, a critic of salmon farming in British Columbia, wrote in an open letter to the Norwegian delegation:

“We understand the BC feedlots are your gateway into China, since China refuses Norwegian salmon and so you come to Quadra Island to protect the interests of your corporations; Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg. However, we see serious problems arising for us from your industry and we are not prepared to sacrifice wild salmon to profit Norway. Please understand that the fight against what we see as an invasion of salmon feedlots into one of the most important wild salmon migration routes left on earth has only begun.”

Contact:

Kurt Oddekalv (in Norway): +47 90 89 22 68

Read the Office of the Auditor General’s report - online here!

Read the report by the Green Warriors of Norway (in English) – online here!

Download the itinerary of the Norwegian delegation visiting Canada (5-9 March) - online here!