(Bloomberg) -- Dense populations of salmon in fish farms along Norway’s coastline cause lice outbreaks that affect wild fish more than is desirable, according to a report from a group of experts.
Norway regulates the growth of salmon farming to limit the impact on wild fish of lice, a parasite that feeds on the skin, mucus and blood of the fish, with the potential to leave large wounds.
The majority of Norway’s 13 production areas have high or moderate risks, the government said on Thursday, citing the findings of the experts. The report forms part of the initial assessment of whether salmon production should be reduced in the different farming zones or permitted to increase, with a decision made every other year.
The Nordic nation makes up more than half of global farmed supply, benefiting from favorable conditions along its fjords and coastline that are difficult to replicate elsewhere. The industry has grown so big that wild salmon and trout also suffer from the lice, which thrive in the enclosed pens.
“With the hot summer this year, we were prepared that the lice impact would be higher in northern Norway than in previous years,” Fisheries and Oceans Minister Marianne Sivertsen Naess said in the statement. “It is nevertheless worrying that the wild salmon in the vast majority of production areas is moderately affected by salmon lice.”
The shares of Mowi ASA, the world’s biggest salmon farmer, were little changed after the announcement.
The report indicated a high risk of lice in the zone near Bergen on the west coast, while the risk is moderate in eight other areas. There’s a low to moderate risk in the area near Vesteralen in the north and a low risk in three other areas.
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