Participants in the seafood industry must navigate a complex and fragmented regulatory framework, where commercial development, technology and biological factors often evolve faster than the regulations. Changes to licensing systems, tax rules, environmental requirements, access to sites and areas, export conditions and ownership rules place high demands on both legal and strategic understanding.
We advise a broad range of participants operating in, or with interests in, the industry, and our assistance covers the entire value chain from fishing and aquaculture to technology, processing, transport and export.
Our clients include aquaculture and fisheries companies, companies involved in land-based aquaculture and offshore aquaculture projects, suppliers and technology companies, processing and export businesses, investors and financial institutions, as well as shipowners, wellboat companies and other maritime service providers.
Our work is carried out in close collaboration across practice areas, including transactions, tax, financing, competition law, employment law, maritime law, technology/IP and dispute resolution. This enables regulatory, commercial and financial considerations to be assessed as a whole, providing clients with comprehensive strategic advice – from early positioning and structuring to execution and follow-up.
Regulation, licences and framework conditions
The fisheries and aquaculture industries are licence-based and subject to extensive public regulation. The comprehensive regulatory framework includes the Aquaculture Act, the Participation Act, extensive detailed regulations and EEA law obligations, and is administered by several sectoral authorities.
We assist with matters relating to, among other things:
- allocation, transfer and structuring of licences, quotas and permits
- site clearance, spatial planning and production capacity
- joint operation agreements and corporate structure
- supervision, decisions, appeals and sanctions from administrative authorities
- legislative and regulatory processes
- dialogue with national and regional authorities
The industry is subject to ongoing regulatory processes, including in relation to the traffic light system, the development of a new production regime, environmental requirements, technological development and changes to the framework conditions for aquaculture. Such processes may have a significant impact on production capacity, investments and company valuations. We also assist in strategic processes where businesses need to manage new regulatory requirements, political initiatives or changes in administrative practice that may affect future operations and development.
Transactions, structure and financing
The seafood industry is capital-intensive and characterised by continuous structural change. Increased regulatory risk, resource rent tax, biological risk, investment needs and changes in ownership contribute to consolidation, strategic partnerships and transactions across aquaculture, fisheries, technology and suppliers.
Our experience includes, among other things:
- purchase and sale of aquaculture and fisheries companies
- transfer of licences, quotas and permits
- construction projects and charterparties for wellboats and service vessels
- stock exchange listings and capital raisings
- joint ventures and strategic collaborations
- financing
- restructuring and reorganisation
We also assist with due diligence and regulatory assessments in transactions, including matters relating to licences, tax rules, ownership control, competition law and public approvals. In the seafood industry, regulatory matters, authority approvals and political framework conditions are often decisive for the implementation, structure and valuation of transactions.
Tax, ownership and political risk
Changes to tax rules and regulatory framework conditions have a significant impact on the seafood industry. The introduction of resource rent tax on aquaculture and ongoing political processes relating to the regulation of the industry have increased the need for advice at the intersection of tax, corporate structure and public regulation.
Our assistance includes, among other things:
- assessment of resource rent tax and tax structuring matters
- ownership structure and successions
- regulatory requirements for foreign investments
- the relationship between company law, licensing rules and tax rules
- dialogue with authorities on regulatory matters
Changes to framework conditions may have a direct impact on valuations, financing and investment decisions, and require close interaction between legal, commercial and regulatory understanding.
Disputes and administrative processes
Matters in the seafood industry often involve complex public law and commercial issues. We regularly assist participants in the industry in disputes and administrative processes, and have extensive experience with matters requiring in-depth knowledge of both the regulatory framework and the practical framework conditions in the industry.
Our experience includes, among other things:
- disputes concerning licences, quotas and administrative decisions
- compensation claims and contractual disputes
- regulatory sanctions and supervision
- proceedings before courts and administrative bodies
- conflicts relating to agreements, deliveries and collaboration within the industry
In-depth industry understanding
To provide strategic advice in the seafood industry, it is essential to understand how regulation, politics, biology, technology and capital interact.
Over several decades, we have assisted participants in the fisheries and aquaculture industry in matters that have been significant for the development of the industry, and we continuously monitor changes in legislation, framework conditions and the market. Our team combines specialist expertise in the regulatory framework, transactions, tax, financing and dispute resolution with in-depth knowledge of the industry’s commercial and political dynamics. This enables us to provide strategic advice tailored to the industry’s particular risk profile.
This provides the basis for advice that not only solves today’s challenges, but also helps secure long-term value.
