Wild fish in freshwater

Small-scale production of wild fish in freshwater can provide a supplementary income source for farmers in rural Norway. Norway has large, untapped reserves of wild fish and other freshwater resources. Although few countries have greater access to freshwater, most countries are better at using their freshwater for food production.

Two years ago, the Norwegian State Agricultural Bank appointed a coordinating group with representatives from, among others, SINTEF and Akvaforsk, the Institute of Aquaculture Research, to work out a strategy and a series of recommendations for exploiting these resources.

Other reports have also been issued on this topic, including a Report to the Storting (Norwegian parliament), no. 19 1999-2000 on agriculture, and in another report by a Storting committee on land use and food production. Together with Akvaforsk, SINTEF has recently applied to the Research Council of Norway for the funding of a Strategic Institute Programme (SIP) for developing such freshwater activities.