Mining revival and Økokrim raids

The latest Tromsø/Finnmark news from the past 48 hours highlights two main cases: the revival of mining activity in Sør-Varanger, driven by a Labour politician who is publicly challenging her own government’s position, and Økokrim’s investigation into the white fish industry, which led to 30 arrests this week. Meanwhile, the municipality of Karasjok is maintaining its advisory to boil drinking water, and the land court (Utmarksdomstolen) has concluded four weeks of hearings on local land rights. The news briefs reported by Nordlys and iTromsø are compiled at the end of the article.

Tromsø / Finnmark News: Sydvaranger, a mining file that is back before the government

County mayor candidate Helga Pedersen (Ap) is calling on the government to take responsibility for getting mining activity under way in Sør-Varanger. According to NRK Tromsø / Finnmark, the elected representative is appealing directly to her own government, which she accuses of failing to act on this industrial issue in eastern Finnmark. The government, for its part, has rejected the request for state assistance.

The issue is sensitive on a regional scale: restarting the mine means jobs and economic activity in a peripheral area of Finnmark, but it also entails public financial commitments that the executive is currently unwilling to assume. Helga Pedersen’s stance comes in the run-up to the county election, when local elected representatives are closely following industrial issues in the north.

The issue extends beyond Finnmark: it concerns national mining policy and the division of responsibilities between the government and local authorities, in a former Troms og Finnmark county that was dissolved in 2024 and has now been split between Troms and Finnmark.

Major raid in the white fish industry

Økokrim’s investigation into the white fish industry remains the heaviest criminal case of the period. At a press conference on Thursday, the Economic Crime Unit said that 30 people had been arrested. Seven of them have been placed in pretrial detention for four weeks, including two in solitary confinement. The other 23 were questioned and then released. More than 20 companies are involved in the investigation, and the police carried out extensive seizures and secured assets worth several hundred million kroner, NRK Tromsø / Finnmark reports.

None of the seven detainees admits to the allegations. Økokrim suspects a systematic and organised false declaration concerning the species, weight and size of the fish when white fish were delivered, as part of an illegal cooperation between players in the industry.

Norges Kystfiskarlag president Tom Vegar Kiil compares his own industry to the mafia and calls for support: “We need help in the industry to clean things up, and I feel that we are getting it now,” he says. In Havøysund, Åge Flaten strongly criticises the way the police conducted their operation against fishing industry players this week, describing it as “cowboy-style”. Økokrim says that preserving evidence was the reason for the operation.

Karasjok: Water under surveillance, boil-water notice remains in effect

The E. coli bacterium was detected this week in samples collected from Karasjok’s municipal water supply. New samples no longer show the presence of the bacterium, but the boil-water notice remains in effect, according to NRK Tromsø / Finnmark. It cannot be lifted before Wednesday at the earliest. Emergency water has been delivered to the municipality’s health centre.

Land rights: four weeks of hearings concluded at Utmarksdomstolen

The Land Court has concluded a four-week hearing in the Karasjok land rights case. In 2024, the Supreme Court established that the people of Karasjok do not collectively own the uncultivated land in the municipality, while acknowledging historical use of nature in the valleys and local villages. The case was therefore referred back to Utmarksdomstolen, which must now determine whether the local village collectives hold a property right or an exclusive right of management over five specific areas of the municipality.

“It is painful to hear that we have no rights,” says Ragnhild Nystad, coordinator of the village collectives that are pursuing Finnmarkseiendommen (Fefo) and president of the Sami association in Karasjok. She says she is tired and finds it difficult to hear Fefo’s lawyers downplay the use residents make of these areas.

Heimevernet: a first complete session in Tromsø

Nearly 40 candidates took part in the entrance exam for the intervention forces of the Heimevernet Nord-Hålogaland district (HV-16), held for the first time in its entirety in Tromsø, at the facilities of the former Olavsvern naval defence site. The programme includes stress and self-control tests, including a backward jump in freefall above the water. "I was very scared at first, I had never done that before," says Martine Reinholdtsen Novstad, who says she found a sense of mastery.

Alta and Hammerfest: water supply for service vessels

For several weeks, vessels have had to leave Hammerfest to fill their water tanks, reports NRK Tromsø / Finnmark. The water quality does not meet the standards required for service vessels, and the cause of the problem has not yet been identified. Supply vessels now obtain water in Alta.

📌 Local briefs

In Tromsø, the night of 31 October to 1 November was turbulent in the city centre: Nordlys reports arrests after a fight at an establishment on Storgata, a person who chased pedestrians with a hammer, and a police reminder about the legal conditions for opening fire (Nordlys).

iTromsø reports that a teenager was reported for carrying a knife, that parents were called to come and collect their children in the evening, and that more than 100 children took part in the Halloween activity at the “scary forest” (iTromsø). A new service could also be introduced in Tromsø.

In Honningsvåg, residents are denouncing dangerous driving and speaking of “lawless conditions” (iFinnmark). In the same region, Ernst is building a new family gathering place above his great-grandfather’s former cellar, and an inhabitant is returning to settle after nearly four decades. Olena Hætta from Tromsø also recounts having survived a night bus accident in Bulgaria (NRK Tromsø / Finnmark).

Sources: NRK Tromsø / Finnmark, Nordlys, iTromsø, iFinnmark, The Local Norway — Period: 31 October 2026 and 01 November 2026