Salmon farming in Iceland is going to see its day court one way or another, with one of the country’s two largest salmon farming operations now under police investigation for alleged violations of local animal welfare regulations, while another faces a landmark lawsuit to see its open net pen farming permits revoked by authorities.

In a turn of events for the Icelandic salmon farming industry, momentum has been gathering and public pressure mounting to bring to an end salmon farming practices that have been proven to negatively impact fragile environmental systems by placing Iceland’s population of wild salmon under severe threat of genetic contamination and disease.

In Iceland’s Eastfjords, a formal police investigation has been launched into alleged violations of animal welfare at Kaldvik’s salmon farm after nearly 1.2 million farmed salmon smolts died between November 2024 and February 2025 due to alleged ‘severe mishandling, harsh transport conditions, and poor seawater conditions.’

The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority has deemed these ‘serious’ violations that “underscore the deep-rooted issues in the open net salmon farming industry.”

Meanwhile, a landmark lawsuit has been filed against the salmon farming giant Arctic Sea Farm and Icelandic authorities, aimed at revoking permits for open net pen farms in Patreksfjörður and Tálknafjörður. 

This legal action, supported by the Icelandic Wildlife Fund has been funded in part by the Icelandic artist, Björk who together with the environmental organisation is seeking “to prevent further environmental destruction and genetic contamination of Iceland’s wild salmon populations.”

The population of wild North Atlantic salmon is today just 25% of its level in 1970, driving fears that the species is on the very edge of extinction. Climate change and ocean acidification have piled pressure on the remaining numbers, impacting upon their breeding grounds leaving them with a severely decreased chance for survival.

Open pen ocean farming in fjords around Iceland have only further limited those chances of surviving in the wild with a continuous torrent of parasites, diseases, and escaped salmon causing genetic mixing making them all more susceptible.

In stark contrast to wild salmon numbers, open pen ocean farming in Icelandic waters has grown eighteen fold since the turn of the century. In 2021, 45,000 tonnes of farmed salmon were produced in Iceland, while it is estimated that the annual production could soon reach 106,500 tonnes in the next couple of years.

To reach this level, some 68 million salmon would need to be farmed in ocean pens in Icelandic waters – which is – according to the Icelandic Wildlife Fund – some 1,133 times the size of the Icelandic wild salmon population.

Meanwhile, public pressure is mounting, with over 4,000 people globally now urging the Icelandic government to strengthen its aquaculture laws and tighten its animal welfare standards. The open-net farming industry is also facing scrutiny for misleading consumers on sustainability.

Outside of Iceland, and British and Scottish salmon farming corporations are too coming under fire, most recently for the receipt of ‘millions of pounds in public money’ issued through the UK Seafood Fund and the Marine Fund Scotland, despite accusations of harming fish populations and coastal communities.

Mowi, the world’s biggest salmon farming company received £7 million from the UK Seafood Fund between 2022 and 2023 – five times more than the £1.27 million in tax Mowi paid to the UK Treasury in 2022. Scottish Sea Farms, co-owned by Lerøy Seafood Group and SalMar was awarded £5 million under the same scheme.

But while these multinational companies and their shareholders reap huge profits, wild fish populations and local communities continue to suffer.

“It’s truly shocking that public money is being given to wealthy salmon farming corporations whose shareholders are netting big profits at the expense of wild fish populations and communities around the world,” said Natasha Hurley, director of campaigns at Feedback Global. 

“Global financiers have fuelled the stratospheric growth of this destructive, extractive industry while using their power and influence to push misinformation about salmon farming. This cannot go on – it’s time to listen to local communities and stop finance to industrial salmon farming.”

In Iceland, and Jón Kaldal, a spokesperson for the Icelandic Wildlife Fund believes the world is now “starting to realise that salmon farming in open net pens is built on terrible suffering and death.”

“The open pens companies confine a large number of animals in small, unnatural environments, which fosters the proliferation of parasites and diseases, leading to devastatingly high mortality rates among the farmed salmon,” he told Oceanographic Magazine.

“Last year, approximately 63 million farmed salmon died in Norwegian sea pens, and five million died in Icelandic pens. To put these figures into context, the estimated wild salmon stock in Norway is around 500,000 fish, and the Icelandic wild salmon stock is approximately 70,000 fish. During each farming cycle (between 18 to 25 months), the mortality rate is around 40%

“This cruelty is literally written into the business model. It’s a feature, not a bug and those who treat animals in this manner should be held accountable.”

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