Policy – September 7, 2026
PHOTO: Danish Aquaculture
All 19 of Denmark’s marine fish farms are still operating under permits dating from the 1990s after authorities took more than a decade to process updated approvals, according to a damning report from the country’s state auditor.
Rigsrevisionen, Denmark’s national audit office, rated the Environment Ministry’s management of marine aquaculture permits and supervision as “very unsatisfactory” in Report No. 22/2025, published on September 7.
The investigation found that 17 of Denmark’s 19 marine farms do not have a current environmental approval, while eight lack a location permit under existing rules. None of the 19 currently holds both of the approvals required under the present regulatory system.
Despite this, the farms can legally continue operating under their older permits while applications are being processed, according to the Environment Ministry. Those legacy permits were issued in the 1990s, when restrictions on pollutants including copper and organic matter were less stringent.
The average processing time has so far reached seven years for location permits and 11 years for environmental approvals. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency itself estimates that processing either type of approval should in practice take between 18 months and two years.
Rigsrevisionen said poor-quality decision-making by the agency had contributed to the delays. Ten farms received environmental approvals at various points between 2014 and 2022, but all were subsequently overturned by Denmark’s Environment and Food Board of Appeal because underlying habitat assessments were inadequate.
The report also identified widespread shortcomings in enforcement.
Denmark’s 19 marine farms breached permit conditions or legislation on 342 occasions between 2018 and 2025, with more than half involving repeated instances of the same type of violation.
The Environmental Protection Agency took enforcement action in just 30 cases, issuing an administrative order in each instance.
The auditors also found that authorities had insufficient oversight of pollutants that could accumulate around farms, including copper and antibiotics. Rigsrevisionen warned that antibiotic residues could contribute to resistant marine bacteria, while copper can be toxic to fish.
The findings prompted Denmark’s parliamentary state auditors, Statsrevisorerne, to issue what they described on September 7 as “sharp criticism” of the Environment Ministry. They said inadequate administration and supervision meant pollution from the farms was damaging the surrounding marine environment.
Environment Minister Maria Reumert Gjerding said the government would tighten regulation of marine aquaculture following the report.
“I take Rigsrevisionen’s criticism very seriously,” Gjerding said in a statement issued by the Environment Ministry on September 7, adding that the government intends to present proposals later this year aimed at reducing pollution from marine farms.
Denmark has 19 marine aquaculture sites, producing around 10,000 tonnes of rainbow trout annually, as well as trout roe. Fish are generally stocked from freshwater farms and grown at sea for seven to nine months.
The Rigsrevisionen investigation was launched in November 2025 at the request of Statsrevisorerne.