The Norwegian Coastal Administration has eliminated ownerless mussel farms along the Nordland coast – NRK

In the last three weeks, the Norwegian Coastal Administration has removed several old and ownerless mussel farms in northern Norway.

In total, they have removed 14 facilities.

The facilities have been abandoned by owners who went bankrupt and left the facilities abandoned at sea in the early 2000s.

Mussel farming was to become Norway’s new coastal industry, but low profitability led many companies out of business, without cleaning up.

So far these have posed a safety risk for both maritime traffic and pleasure craft, the environment and fishing, according to the Norwegian Coastal Administration, which has previously stated that anything threatens safety at sea.

For NRK, project manager Anniken Aasjord says they have worked from Harstad in Sør-Troms, along the Nordland coast and towards Bindal.

The work is done to prevent accidents in boat traffic and damage to the environment and marine life. Maritime safety and the environment are the backdrop to the cleanup cruise.

– There are many residues that have been removed now, Aasjord tells NRK.

Flags after cleaning

Mussel farms have been without owners or supervision for several years.

In Nordland alone, at one point, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, there were more than 60 unowned facilities. Now only a few remain.

Garbage has been moving for a long time. Something has sunk and risen again over the years.

It has affected the quality of life for some people to have old garbage around them for so long, says Aasjord.

– They stay there and float, often to where people live, travel and fish, so this is something that has affected people’s quality of life.

– There are many who are grateful that it is now being cleaned. In fact, someone called me who was going to raise the flag now. He was very happy that we removed it.

Withdrawn from the protected area

The project is funded by the government’s extraordinary crown funds.

Aasjord notes in particular that they have removed four facilities at Kaldvågfjorden, an arm of the fjord north of Sagfjorden on Hamarøy in Nordland.

This area recently received the status of a marine protected area.

Although they do important work, they also make it stinky.

– Large amounts of mud and rotting husk remains have been raised with ropes and pierced blows. The smell on the deck was indescribably unpleasant and the deck workers have been covered in smelly residue and mud from work.

It will start in western Norway

The Norwegian Coastal Administration has also received funding to carry out a similar project in the west.

Here nine installations will be removed. According to the plan, this will take place in the period from October to December, they write in the report.