Monitoring of escaped farmed salmon in the river systems is combined in a national monitoring programme, managed and coordinated by Havforskningsinstituttet [Institute of Marine Research]. The goal for the programme is to coordinate and quality assure the entire process from planning and collection of data about the occurrence of escaped salmon in the river systems, to reporting of the results of the surveys. The reporting must, as far as possible, describe the number and proportion of escaped farmed salmon in individual river systems and how these are distributed in the river system. Furthermore, possible regional differences must be highlighted, and the reporting must be suitable for answering important administrative questions.

In order to implement the Monitoring Program with sufficient coverage in river systems in all regions in Norway, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research wants to enter into a contract with suppliers of suitable data sets that can contribute to describing the situation with regard to occurrence and quantity of escaped farmed salmon. The contracts include participation in analysis of data sets, reporting and further development of the programme. Experience and scientific publication, within relevant disciplines for the Monitoring Program, is crucial for the selection of supplier, as well as what data the individual actors have available.