Section 3.10 of Proposition no. 32 (2006-2007) to the Storting (Norwegian parliament) states that ”In many cases restocking has had little effect. The requirement to carry out an impact assessment in connection with the issue of a restocking order will therefore be intensified. In addition, quality criteria will be drawn up for fish to be used for restocking purposes.”

Implementation 
Akvaforsk and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) will meet with Statkraft’s experts and conduct inspections of the fish hatcheries/river systems.

Results:
The project will attempt to reveal how we can:

• increase the quality and survival rate of eggs and fish which are used for restocking in connection with production licence requirements
• improve the way the effect of restocking measures is monitored. It is clear that anatomical changes leave hatchery-raised salmon poorly adapted to life in the wild and that the return rate of farmed smolt is not as good as that of wild salmon smolt. The project will seek to find a possible explanation for this, and propose measures to improve the situation, eg outline practical experiments which can be carried out at hatcheries to adapt the fish to life in the wild.