Sector set for growth

Rabobank’s look ahead to 2024 suggests better days are coming for aquaculture producers, reports Vince McDonagh After a turbulent 2023, the aquaculture industry – and the salmon sector in particular – looks set to rebound next year, according to a report based on input from producers worldwide. What to expect in aquaculture in 2024, the…

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Norcod is now top cod farmer, says CEO

Norcod is now the dominant producer in Norway’s fast growing cod farming sector, the company claims in its latest stock market update. CEO Christian Riber declared: “Our harvest volumes and standing biomass clearly proves our position as the leading cod farmer. “Our new contract in China clearly demonstrates that we are in a unique position…

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Gåsø moves back into salmon with large Måsøval stake

Helge Gåsø, founder and former head of the NTS Group fish farming company,  is back in the salmon business – and in a big way. His investment company, Frøy Kapital, has purchased thousands of shares in Måsøval, a significant salmon farmer in central Norway. Måsøval also has interests in Iceland. An announcement on the Oslo…

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Benchmark hatches plan for possible sale

The fish health and genetics business Benchmark may be sold as a whole or in part, the group’s board has said. Benchmark has its headquarters in the UK, but its operations are worldwide with a strong emphasis on Norway and other major fish farming countries. The board of Benchmark Holdings, the group’s parent company, said…

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Fish health: your questions please

On Wednesday 24 January at 11.30am GMT, Fish Farmer magazine will be hosting a panel of experts to discuss fish health issues, in the first Aqua Agenda webinar. The discussion will cover the lessons that have been learned since 2022 for salmon farming in Scotland, what the outcomes looked like in 2023 and what the prospects…

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Aquaculture supply chain looks to the future through AquaFarm

AquaFarm, the international exhibition-conference event dedicated to aquaculture and sustainable fishing industry, takes place on 14 & 15 February at the Pordenone Fiere exhibition centre in Pordenone, Italy. As previously, the AquaFarm trade show combines the exhibition spaces with an extensive programme of conferences and workshops dedicated to the most up to date issues in…

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HPMAs: what’s next?

Proposals to bar all commercial activity from 10% of Scotland’s waters have been dropped. Where do we go from here? Sandy Neil finds out The decision, after all the debate, was hardly a surprise. Early in November, the Scottish Government’s Net Zero Secretary, Màiri McAllan MSP, knocked the plan for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs)…

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Spawn to be wild

Selective breeding means farmed cod are less likely to spawn multiple times, research from Nofima suggests After several attempts in the past, cod farming on a commercial scale is on the rise in Norway, helped no doubt by high prices and tight quotas for wild caught cod. Norwegian research institute Nofima has been carrying out…

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Skretting agrees major deal with Finnish insect company

The global aquafeed company Skretting and the Finnish insect ingredient producer Volare have agreed a commercial collaboration to produce ingredients for Skretting’s Norwegian salmon feed. Skretting has secured a substantial capacity in Volare’s factory in Finland, which is set to start construction this year. The new factory represents Volare’s first venture into production at an…

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Chile’s Nova Austral saved from liquidation

Chilean salmon farmer Nova Austral has been saved from the immediate threat of liquidation. The long-running saga came to an end last night after the bondholders voted in support of a reorganisation agreement drawn up late last year. An announcement on the Oslo Stock Exchange said: “Following the Issuer’s presentation of the Reorganisation Agreement, Nordic…

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