Í greininni sem hér fylgir er fjallað um hrikalega meðferð sjókvíaeldisfyrirtækjanna á eldislöxunum sagt frá því að Matvælastofnun hafi kært til lögreglu brot Kaldvíkur á dýravelferðarlöggjöf Íslands.
Orðspor þessa hroðalega iðnaðar fer réttilega hratt versnandi á alþjóðavísu. Sjókvíaeldi á laxi er óboðleg aðferð við matvælaframleiðslu.
Í umfjöllun Oceanographic Magazine segir:
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.”
…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.
…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.”