Icelandic Businessman Wins Esteemed Environmental Prize for Saving Salmon

tags: Atlantic salmon, conservation, fish, Goldman Environmental Prize, Orri Vigfusson

Orri Vigfusson, 64, an Icelandic businessman, has been fighting to save Atlantic wild salmon from extinction by overfishing for 17 years. Vigfusson's efforts, which led to an increase in salmon numbers in the northern Atlantic Ocean, have been recognized with a top environmental award; the Goldman Environmental Prize. The award is known as "the Nobel Prize for grassroots environmentalism". Vigfusson, along with five other winners, will receive their awards on Monday at a ceremony in San Francisco.

"We have been killing too many fish for too long," Vigfusson said, explaining what prompted him to set up the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), a coalition of conservation groups that works alongside governments and fishermen to end commercial salmon fishing. A massive commercial fishing industry resulted in thousands of miles of driftnets spread across the routes taken by the fish. Vigfusson's organization buys fishermen's netting rights in areas along the fish's migration route.

"Having been a sport fisherman for over 20 years, I had been seeing the salmon stocks in rivers decline every year," he said. "I said that we had to do something about this or the fish would simply disappear."

After an initial surge in salmon catches, the numbers crashed. Between 1979 and 1990, catches fell from four million to 700,000.

"We believe in commercial agreements," Vigfusson explained. "Over the past 17 years we have made commercial agreements all over the northern Atlantic."

Driftnet fishermen, who capture salmon migrating along the coast to rivers, receive generous compensation to sell their fishing licences to the NASF. The NASF originally began in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, but they have now expanded their influence across much of Europe, including Scotland, which is home to about 80% of the UK's salmon stock. By raising $35m (£17.5m), NASF has "retired" net licences around many of the continent's key salmon spawning rivers.

In addition to offering compensation, the NASF also finds alternative employment for the netsmen, either in sustainable fisheries or in the revived angling tourism industry, boosted by the replenished rivers.

"Iceland, for the past three years, has enjoyed the best seasons ever," said Vigfusson."And there has also been an increase in salmon stocks in Scotland and Canada." But he said the job was far from done, even after winning a Goldman prize.

"Our ultimate goal is to return salmon stocks to historical abundance enjoyed 50 years ago."

Each Goldman Environmental Prize winner will receive $125,000 (£62,400) at a presentation ceremony in San Francisco on Monday.