The debate comes at a critical time for companies like Norcod and Ode, which have been leading the resurgence of Norwegian cod farming

A 'Salmon Recipe' Won’t Save the Cod

NORWAY
Thursday, January 15, 2026, 06:00 (GMT + 9)

The Directorate of Fisheries (Fiskeridirektoratet) warns that traditional methods for catching escaped salmon are ineffective for farmed cod, citing risks of high bycatch and environmental damage.

BERGEN – As the cod farming industry expands along the Norwegian coast, Director of Fisheries Frank Bakke-Jensen is drawing a hard line against applying salmon-based management strategies to cod. In a recent statement, Bakke-Jensen emphasized that while the escape of farmed cod is a "serious threat" to wild populations, a general "fishing out" scheme—common in the salmon industry—could do more harm than good.

The Biological Divide

Unlike farmed salmon, which migrate up specific rivers to spawn and are relatively easy to target, farmed cod disperse into the open sea. Once they escape, they mix almost immediately with wild cod stocks.

"The risk is that too little farmed cod is caught and too much wild fish is caught," says Bakke-Jensen. "The result could be low recapture, high bycatch, and poor resource management."

Current Regulations and the "500-Meter Rule"

Under current Norwegian law, the responsibility for recapture lies heavily on the fish farmers:

• Immediate Action: Farmers must initiate recapture efforts within 500 meters of the facility the moment an escape is detected.

• Expansion: The Directorate of Fisheries has the authority to expand this zone in the event of "major incidents."

• Preparedness: The Directorate now expects cod farmers to maintain standing agreements with commercial fishermen to ensure a rapid response, a standard already established in the salmon sector.

Legislative Hurdles and New Requirements

The Directorate admits that the Marine Resources Act is not yet fully optimized for cod. Challenges include:

1. Minimum Size Limits: Differentiating between undersized wild fish and escaped farmed fish.

2. Gear Use: Ensuring nets used for recapture don't accidentally deplete wild stocks.

3. The "Biting" Problem: Unlike salmon, cod have a biological tendency to bite at the nets, significantly increasing the risk of structural failure and escape.

In response, new technical regulations have been proposed to ensure nets are better adapted to the species' behavior. Furthermore, as of Autumn 2025, new requirements mandate that farmers monitor and prevent "spawning in cages." This phenomenon occurs when farmed cod reach sexual maturity and release eggs directly into the water column, potentially contaminating the genetics of wild populations without a single fish ever "escaping" the net.

Industry Impact

The debate comes at a critical time for companies like Norcod and Ode, which have been leading the resurgence of Norwegian cod farming. According to reports from Fiskeribladet, there have been several recorded escape incidents in Nordland and Møre og Romsdal over the past two years, totaling thousands of fish. This has led to increased pressure from environmental groups and local fishing collectives to synchronize regulations with the environmental reality of the Norwegian fjords.

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