Environmental issues
Environmental issues
Licence requirements in aquaculture
A licence is required to engage in aquaculture and sea ranching activities in Iceland. This means that activities without a licence are illegal. An aquaculture licence is a set of rights and obligations for the holder of the licence. The main components of the licence consist of the right to produce specific species, in a specific quantity at specific sites.
Environmental licences
Licences are issued by two governmental institutions, one agency under the Ministry for the Environment and the other under the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. The Icelandic Environmental Agency is the state authority for the environmental licensing of aquaculture. The Agency issues licences to large stations and the local Health Inspection Authorities issue licenses to small farms. A number of other state and communal authorities are involved in the process of licensing and have control responsibilities. The environmental licence contains specific criteria regarding pollution, harmful chemicals, distribution of suspended solids and other local environmental issues.
Operating licences
An operation licence issued by the Directorate of Fisheries is required for all fish farming. The directorate collects data and evaluates on ecological factors and disease connected factors that could possibly be related to the farming. If the available data does not give sufficient information for this evaluation, the directorate can require further details on different factors, e.g. whether the farming increases the risk of fish-disease distribution. The operating licence pertains to ecological, parasitological and genetic interactions. The operating licence also contains specifications regarding the species being reared, total production allowed, monitoring and research and any precautionary conditions related to the escape of fish from cages and their recovery.
Environmental impact assessment
For all intensive fish farming, where the annual production is 200 tonnes or more and waste water empties into the ocean, or where annual production is 20 tonnes or more and waste water empties into freshwater the developer shall notify the Icelandic Planning Agency. The Minister for the Environment can decide that an environmental impact assessment is required before a licence is issued. Those who apply for licences, or the authorities implicated in the process, can suggest that the Minister should require an environmental impact assessment if they fear there is a danger of significant effects on the environment.
Protection areas
In order to protect wild stocks from possible genetic pollution and parasite infestation it is prohibited to rear salmonid species of reared origin in sea cages in fjords and bays close to major salmon rivers. Sea cage farming of salmonids in Iceland is limited to the north coast in addition to the West and East fjords.
References and further reading
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Jonsson, G.S. 2000. Licensing, monitoring and regulation of aquaculture in Iceland. Journal of Applied Icthyology 16 (4-5)
Valdimar Ingi Gunnarsson
