Iceland's aquaculture bill rewritten after record 923 consultation responses, environment agency gains veto over licences

• 923 formal responses were submitted through Iceland's public consultation portal, with an additional 1,635 from parties unable to authenticate digitally — most of them foreign
• The Environment and Energy Authority now holds binding advisory power over licence renewals and must be consulted on all new applications and licence modifications
• Foreign ownership restrictions were narrowed to cover only sea-cage and offshore farming, leaving land-based aquaculture open to international operators
• The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute can now delegate wild salmon river monitoring to private parties to track escaped farmed fish

Minister of Industry Hanna Katrín Friðriksson submitted a substantially revised aquaculture bill to the Althingi (Icelandic parliament) on Sunday after the draft attracted 923 formal responses through Iceland's public consultation portal — one of the largest consultation exercises in recent legislative history. RÚV reports that the vast majority of individual submissions were critical of open-sea cage farming on conservation grounds, though some welcomed the proposed legislation. An additional 1,635 responses arrived outside the portal from parties unable to authenticate with electronic credentials — mostly from foreign actors.

The government listened, at least partly. The most consequential revision elevates the Umhverfis- og orkustofnun (Environment and Energy Authority) from a peripheral consultee to a gatekeeper. Under the new text, the Matvælastofnun (Food Authority of Iceland), which issues operating licences, must consult the environment agency on all new licence applications and any modifications to existing ones. The environment agency can also initiate reviews on its own. Most critically, licence renewals now require a binding opinion from the agency — giving it an effective veto over continued operations.

The foreign ownership provisions were also redrawn. The original draft restricted foreign operators across all aquaculture types. The revised bill narrows those restrictions to sea-cage and offshore farming only, opening land-based operations to international capital. The distinction is telling: land-based recirculating systems pose far less risk to wild fish stocks, and Iceland needs the investment. Norway's Mowi and SalMar, which dominate North Atlantic salmon farming, will be watching closely.

Other changes include authorising the Hafrannsóknastofnun (Marine and Freshwater Research Institute) to delegate river monitoring to private contractors, tracking whether farmed salmon are appearing in wild rivers in increasing numbers. The University of Iceland's pathology laboratory at Keldur also gains authorisation to conduct fish farming research alongside the institute.

The bill arrives at a moment when aquaculture conflicts are intensifying across the North Atlantic. Norway is tightening its own regulations after years of sea lice infestations and genetic contamination of wild stocks. Scotland's salmon farming industry faces mounting opposition from fishing interests and environmentalists. Iceland's wild Atlantic salmon rivers — some of the most productive and valuable in the world — represent exactly the kind of natural asset that, once degraded, cannot be restored at any price. Fishing rights on premium Icelandic rivers sell for tens of thousands of euros per rod per week, sustaining rural economies that have few alternatives.

The consultation numbers hint at the depth of public feeling. When adjusted for duplicate submissions, the portal count drops by roughly a hundred — still extraordinary for a country of 380,000. The 1,635 additional foreign submissions suggest international conservation groups mobilised their networks, adding external pressure to domestic concern.

The bill now moves to the Althingi's committee stage, where the aquaculture industry will make its case for economic growth and the conservation lobby will push for tighter restrictions still. The environment agency's new binding power over licence renewals means the real regulatory battles will play out not in parliament but in the technical review process — where public attention is harder to sustain.

Sources: RÚV