Andfjord Salmon hails “remarkable” first harvest

The Norwegian land based fish farmer Andfjord Salmon has announced the successful completion of its first harvest of Atlantic salmon at its new facility in Kvalnes in the north of the country.

The company said the harvest yielded strong results with an industry leading survival rate of 97.5% and superior share of 91.1%.

The total biomass of Atlantic salmon reached 646 tonnes translating to approximately 530 metric tonnes (HOG) , with an average weight of approximately 3.4 kilograms per fish.

An exit-count in conjunction with transfer of fish from the pool shows that approximately 193,000 salmon were released in the pool one year ago.

CEO Martin Ramussen (pictured) said: “We are elated to achieve such a remarkable survival rate, especially after transportation to slaughter.

The fact that 97.5% of the fish survived underscores that the fish has had excellent living conditions in the pool. “

He added: “As a consequence of this, we have harvested fish that may not have survived in other fish farming facilities. This has a negative impact on the average weight and superior share, which is still at an impressive level. However, a high survival rate is obviously the most valuable from a financial perspective.”

A company statement said the harvested fish displayed a diverse range of weights, from 1-2 kg up to 5-6 kg. Of particular note, approximately 50% of the fish fell into the 2-3 kg category, achieving an average price of approximately NOK 67 (£5) per kg.

Additionally, around 40% of the fish weighed between 3-4 kg, realising an average price of approximately NOK 80 (£6) per kg.

CEO Ramussen continued: “The high-quality attributes of our salmon have not gone unnoticed by our customers, who have provided very positive feedback, especially on the colour of the fish.

“This reiterates the conceptual advantages of Andfjord Salmon’s salmon farming method. Our main goal for the first batch of fish was to reach the ‘right’ buyers, not to maximise the average price.”

“ Even so, we have seen buyers coming back after the first shipment wanting to pay extra for the next delivery. This has made us even more confident that we will be able to achieve a healthy premium on our product in the future”, he concluded.

Last month Andfjord Salmon secured loans worth around £52 million and boosted its balance sheet with a share issue totalling some £45 million.