Iceland - 4 - Agriculture & Aquaculture

11-15 August,  24 August - 4 September, 2025

Aquaculture

Salmon farming is a big thing in Iceland - despite the controversies on its environmental impact and sustainability. Fish processing, including wild-caught fish, is a major industry (and usually quite smelly).

27 August

Salmon farms were common on most fjords. This one is in Berufjörður.

Fish drying racks (probably cod) along Önundarfjörður.

Agriculture

Most Icelandic agriculture revolves around sheep - pasture and hay. The climate is not very amenable to row crops. I'll cover sheep in the forthcoming "Animal" post. But the availability of cheap heat and electricity have led to a recent rise in year-round greenhouse agriculture.

This is the Friðheimar Tomato Farm, which supplies about 40% of Iceland's tomatoes. Friðheimar pioneered the year-round greenhouse concept. Normally, a climate like Iceland's would not support year-round greenhouses.  It only works because geothermal heat and electricity are low cost in Iceland.

Tomatoes on the left; flowers and tomatoes on the right. This section of the greenhouse also holds a restaurant (reservations highly recommended) that serves a variety of tomato-based dishes, beverages, and desserts. Another section of the greenhouse grows herbs and lettuce for the restaurant.

These "piccolo" tomatoes grow in flat clusters - not like any tomato plants I've grown.

Tomatoes need to be pollenated to produce fruit, so each greenhouse has a hive or two of imported bumblebees.