The Orri Vigfússon Legacy Fund, or the Orri Fund, is a program of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (US). NASF created the Orri Fund in 2017 in honor of its founder, Orri Vigfusson. Orri was an Icelandic entrepreneur, outdoorsman, and life long conservationist. Over the course of nearly 30 years, he drew on his considerable business acumen and negotiation skills, along with a firsthand knowledge of the fishing industry, to prevent the seemingly inevitable decimation of wild North Atlantic salmon populations.
Orri did this by entering into commercial conservation agreements with fishermen across the North Atlantic, from the Faroe Islands and Greenland, to Ireland and the U.K. It is estimated that these agreements, the first of which was negotiated in 1991, now cover 85% of waters inhabited by North Atlantic salmon, and that in excess of 10 million salmon that would have fallen victim to the fishing industry have been saved to return to their rivers of birth to spawn.
Orri believed agreements on the high seas, focused on North Atlantic feeding grounds near Greenland and the Faroe Islands, are the most important levers to protect the greatest number of salmon, as they impact the migratory patterns of fish from over 2,000 rivers in all nations touching the North Atlantic. They address a massive and shared problem across the salmon conservation initiative, targeting the only true common habitat of the salmo salar.
The Orri Fund is the realization of a great conservationist’s final wish – creation of a discrete entity that would provide capital to manage and fund treaties with both the Faroese and Greenlandic fishery management programs, as well as others that may require attention over time. The Orri Fund ensures that these agreements will be preserved for as long as they are necessary. Without them, millions of endangered salmon would once again be vulnerable to the commercial fishing nets that intercept them in their migration between the open ocean and their home rivers.
Donate to The Orri Fund
Below please find instructions for donating in the US and UK via PayPal, bank wire or check.
Donors may also wire or mail their donations.
Wire funds to the Orri Fund in US Dollars:
Bank: Bank of America
SWIFT-BIC: BOFAUS3N
Routing Number: 026009593
Address: Bank of America N.A.
100 West 33rd Street
New York, NY 10001
Account: 6550113516
Name: Merrill Lynch
Further Credit to: North Atlantic Salmon Fund, 742-03179
Writing a check for the Orri Fund in the US (international instructions further below):
Checks should be made payable to “NASF” and sent to following address:
Grassy Creek Foundation
c/o NASF
221 North Hogan St, #403
Jacksonville, FL 32202
