Proximar on track despite February tank incident

Proximar Seafood has reported that biomass at its new land based salmon farm in Japan has more than doubled during the first three months of 2024.

At the end of March  the Norwegian salmon company had a standing biomass of 111.9  metric tonnes at the farm, located at Oyama near Japan’s Mount Fuji, compared with 40.7 metric tonnes at the end of December (Q3 2023).

Proximar CEO Joachim Nielsen said: “ We are very pleased to see the continuation of the positive development in our biomass also through the first quarter of 2024, despite the tank incident that we experienced in February.

Throughout the quarter we have seen steady performance and growth across all batches. The water quality remains stable and good, again demonstrated in the growth curves and low natural mortality.

He added: “Following the maturation of the biofilters in the start-up phase of the grow-out facility, feeding is back to normal levels and growth rates are picking up according to plan. We remain on track for first harvest in the third quarter this year.”

In February, one of the four tanks at the site’s post-smolt facility breached, leading to the loss of an estimated 50,000 fish.

The company has currently twelve batches in production. The targeted long-term harvest level for Proximar is 5 300 tonnes (HOG) per year in Phase 1.

The next update will come as part of Proximar’s Q1 2024 report, which will be released on 16 May.

The company inserted its first batch of eggs in October 2022, and plans its first harvest in Q3 2024.

Proximar  says its location, near one of the world’s most important fish markets, has significant advantages, both in terms of reduced cost and carbon footprint.