Tracing the Fish

Scarcely any fish in the world is as strictly controlled as Norwegian farmed fish. Thousands of samples are taken of fish and feed every year, with a view to making sure you have a safe and tasty dinner.

Pollution from industry and private individuals means that all foodstuffs, not excluding farmed fish and shellfish, may contain undesirable foreign substances. It is therefore important that producers and authorities inspect the foodstuffs regularly.

The Food Safety Authority has the responsibility for monitoring fish and shellfish from aquaculture, a task it performs in collaboration with the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES). Fish-farmers and feed producers also conduct a thorough internal control. No one can afford to make mistakes that affect the quality of the final product.

For many years Norwegian authorities have been comprehensively sampling farmed fish; in 2004, for instance, over 5,500 samples were taken. The results are excellent and show values for foreign substances in food well below Norwegian and international limits. The fish feed is monitored just as stringently as the fish. Medicine residues have never been proven in samples of Norwegian farmed fish.

Norwegian fish-farmers and feed producers are among the world leaders in traceability. This makes for extra security for you as consumer; traceability along the entire value chain makes it possible to document the fish’s life-cycle from roe to table. You can know where the fish on your plate has come from, where it grew up, what it has been eating and what its health certificate looks like. These are well-developed systems in modern Norwegian aquaculture and are also, to an increasing degree, being offered to the customer.