Norway's Green Party (known by its Norwegian acronym MDG) has said that it advocates banning all cod farming, citing concerns over a recent report by the directorate of fisheries, NRK reported.

Norway is currently governed by a coalition of its Labour Party and Center Party.

The report found that cod farmers have failed to prevent the fish from maturing and spawning within cages, posing potential threats to wild cod populations. Rasmus Hansson, MDG's business policy spokesperson, criticized the country's fisheries minister, Marianne Sivertsen Naess, for inaction and accused the industry of spreading misinformation.

Hansson emphasized that this uncontrolled spawning could harm Norway's coastal ecosystem and urged the government to halt cod farming immediately. Sivertsen, though, believes stopping cod farming entirely is unnecessary, advocating for "sustainable growth" while addressing knowledge gaps about disease, environmental impacts, and fish welfare.

She acknowledged the challenges cod farming has faced in the past but argued for a more measured approach to prevent another collapse. However, Hansson insists the government's response is irresponsible and that merely suggesting spawning should be avoided will not solve the issue.

This comes as the industry is looking at an unprecedented shortage of Atlantic cod next year.

Projections by the 2024 Groundfish Forum suggest that the global market can expect only 656,000 metric tons of Atlantic cod catches next year, down from 816,000t this year and 1.08 million metric tons as recently as 2022, Undercurrent News reported.

The supply deficit is being driven by a sharp 31% reduction in Barents Sea cod quotas for next year, which will slash the output from the Norwegian and Russian fleets.

With wild-caught cod volumes out of Norway set to plummet next year, cod farmers would seem to be in a place to capitalize on the deficit.

But the reality is that what cod farmers are capable of producing now remains a niche product aiming to supplement off-season cod supplies rather than fill the industry's glaring shortage in a significant way, according to Christian Riber, CEO of Norcod.

The graph below shows the rise of average cod prices imported into the EU from Norway over the last five years.