(Bloomberg) -- Norway’s seafood exports slumped by a record last month as problems at salmon farms dragged down the harvest in the world’s biggest producer of the farmed fish.

Exports totaled 12.1 billion kroner ($1.1 billion) in June, down 18% from a year earlier, the Norwegian Seafood Council said in a statement on Wednesday. It’s the first time they have fallen more than 2 billion kroner in a single month. 

The issues, which the council called “biological challenges” without being more specific, will make a dent in the Norwegian economy as seafood is nation’s second-biggest export industry after oil and gas. In the past, farms have struggled with everything from sea lice to diseases and jellyfish. 

“The situation has been demanding in the first half of the year,” Christian Chramer, head of the council, said. Biological challenges resulted in lower slaughter volumes and changed the product composition toward more fillet, he said.

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. 

Norway exported 93,400 metric tons of salmon in June, 4% less than a year ago. The fish accounted for about 70% of the total seafood export value for the month. 

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