2023 – ongoing
Collaboration with Jonas Dengler
The ferry ride from the mainland to Rødøy, an island in northwestern Norway, takes about fifty minutes. However, the picturesque landscape with its countless islands is hardly visible through the rainy window. With a population of 139 inhabitants, the island of Rødøy is the most densely populated in the region. It serves as the center for the surroun-ding islands, with a kindergarten, a school, and a nursing home. For several decades, the community has been fighting against emigration and economic decline. The population has halved, agriculture has died out, shops have closed, and the island‘s only café was no longer profitable. Nevertheless, today the residents look hopefully towards the future. Tourism is increasing, and a company promises new perspectives. Gigante Salmon is a young company that is establishing its first landbased salmon farm on the neighboring island of Lille Indre Rosøya. The facility consists of three basins blasted into the rocks and promises to be more environmentally friendly than traditional net pens. However, the intervention in nature is irreversible. But no one on Rødøy is bothered by this because Gigante Salmon is doing a lot to make the island prosper. They donate to the nursing home and the school and promise new jobs. Two families have already moved to the island due to new jobs at Gigante Salmon. The prospect of growth has led to the modernization of the shop and the reopening of the café. It has now become a popular meeting place, and the community is coming together again. The new salmon farm is expected to start operations with the first basin at the end of September 2023. Whether Gigante Salmon‘s concept will succeed will be seen in the coming years.
