Okokrim flags salmon farming offences as key environmental crime risk.
Norway’s economic crime authority has identified legal violations in salmon aquaculture as one of the main challenges in environmental crime and called for stronger oversight in a new national threat assessment.
Presenting the findings, Økokrim director Pål Lønseth said environmental crime can be as profitable as narcotics trafficking yet is harder to detect. He indicated the agency intends to devote more resources to the area while balancing other priorities.
The assessment highlights a low risk of detection along a dispersed coastline and notes local interests that may favour keeping operations running. First state attorney Hans Tore Høviskeland said the “dark numbers” are likely large, adding that while most companies comply with the rules, serious breaches still occur across the value chain from feed production to slaughter.
Escapes were singled out as a particular concern because of risks to wild stocks. Reported escapes of farmed salmon rose to the highest level in five years in 2024, and Økokrim said the true figure is likely higher. The authority also found that many farms lack precise stock counts, making escapes harder to identify and easier to conceal.
Økokrim said penalties in some cases are low relative to corporate earnings and signalled work to raise sanction levels, including fines on enterprises. It recommended greater inspection capacity for regulators and better information sharing between police and supervisory bodies.
The threat assessment also lists risks in nature and wildlife crime, fisheries and aquaculture offences, and pollution, as well as the role of cross-border criminal actors in lucrative global markets.
Seafood Norway seeks meeting with økokrim over threat assessment
Seafood Norway has asked to meet Økokrim to discuss the agency’s recent threat assessment of environmental crime in the seafood sector.
“Seafood Norway and our member companies take environmental, resource and economic crime very seriously. Where this occurs, it comes at the expense of the serious players who work every day to act responsibly and in line with the regulations,” the organisation wrote.
Chief executive Geir Ove Ystmark said the industry has long advocated specific measures to limit the room for irresponsible operators and ensure fair competition. “We believe that those who operate irresponsibly and break the law do so at the expense of the players who loyally follow the regulations,” he said. He added that it is important to distinguish between individual companies that violate laws and regulations and the industry as a whole.
In its letter, Seafood Norway said preventing escapes and other incidents is critical for aquaculture companies both financially and reputationally. “Investing in a fish that later escapes represents a direct financial loss, while also undermining confidence in the industry,” the organisation stated.
Ystmark said the sector objects to fisheries and aquaculture being referenced collectively when discussing crime. “This then labels companies as complicit. It is crucial to have a strong level of precision in such issues,” he said.