Grieg Seafood fined for plastic spill in northern Norway.
Grieg Seafood has been fined NOK 450,000 ($43,000) for a 2023 plastic pellet spill in Laksefjorden, Finnmark, after releasing an estimated 35 million pellets into the environment. The company is now under formal order to conduct a clean-up later this year.
The incident was first discovered in June 2023 by the environmental group In The Same Boat, which traced the pellets to Grieg Seafood’s nearby smolt facility, according to NRK. Employees at the plant confirmed the source of the discharge, and the company subsequently reported the matter to the County Governor.
The volume of the release is believed to be around 700 litres of plastic pellets.
Although environmental groups urged Grieg to act quickly, the company initially planned a clean-up in October last year. That was later postponed to August 2024, citing logistical challenges and the need to avoid disruption during the local bird nesting season. The County Governor issued a formal clean-up order in March.
The fine relates to violations of Norway’s Pollution Control Act.
“We should not have plastic releases into the environment, and we have worked hard to prevent this across our operations,” said Vidar Nikolaisen, regional director of Grieg Seafood Finnmark. “In this case, we made several mistakes. We should have identified the fault earlier and acted faster.”
The company says it now plans to carry out clean-up efforts between August and October this year, when ground conditions and ecological considerations allow.