The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has released a new report finding that cod farms continued to struggle with early maturation and spawning inside cages in the 2024-2025 season.Norway’s cod farming regulations require farmers to prevent the spawning of farmed cod to avoid interfering with wild cod populations. Early maturation results in companies being forced to harvest cod early and cull fish. Companies like Norcod have been forced to cull fish in multiple cages due to early maturation, which has negative impacts on the companies’ bottom lines. According to Norway Fisheries Director Frank Bakke-Jensen, the report found the challenges continued in the 2024-2025 season. “This shows that there are still challenges related to preventing maturation and spawning in cages, and no significant improvement compared to the previous season,” Bakke-Jensen said. Bakke-Jensen said surveys of cod in their first winter at sea found a significant portion of the male fish were already mature ...