News
Nova Sea signs £50m slaughterhouse contract
Norwegian salmon farmer Nova Sea has signed a £50m (NOK 673m) contract to build a new slaughterhouse in Nordland. The deal with the construction company Consto will see an ultra-modern facility on the small island of Lovund. It is in the area where Nova Sea began its fish farming operations in the 1970s. The new…
Read MoreCooke Seafood mourns co-founder
Gifford Cooke, the Canadian marine mechanic who created one of the world’s largest seafood businesses, has died. He was co-founder of the Cooke Seafood group, which turned a local New Brunswick company into a global operation and transformed a single Canadian fish farm into an aquaculture operation employing thousands of people. The Cooke empire stretches…
Read MoreBakkafrost air service takes off this week
Bakkafrost’s new air cargo service, FarCargo is due to begin operations this week. FarCargo was set up as an associated company by Faroese salmon farmer Bakkafrost to ensure a more direct route for its exports, especially to the United States. The proposed outbound route will go from Billund in Denmark, then onto the Faroe Islands…
Read MoreNorway February salmon exports value up, but volume down
Norway’s seafood export boom continues but there are signs things could be slowing down, according to the latest figures. The export value total last month was NOK 13.3bn (just short of £1bn), a rise of 3% on a year ago. The Norwegian Seafood Council said that thanks to large value growth for salmon, trout, cod…
Read MoreSwedish private equity firm buys fish health specialist
Fish health business STIM has been acquired by Swedish investment firm Summa Equity, in a move STIM’s founder said would help the company to grow. STIM is the aquaculture industry’s largest quality supplier of fish health products and services, operating in Norway, Chile, UK, and Canada. Its gross revenue of the company was over €150m…
Read MoreExpansion go-ahead for two Icelandic salmon companies
TWO major Icelandic salmon farming companies have been granted licences to produce an extra 18,000 tonnes of fish. MAST, Iceland’s veterinary authority, has given Arnarlax the go-ahead to farm an additional 10,000 tonnes of sterile salmon in the Isafjord area, in the north-west of the country. It has also awarded Arctic Sea Farm a new…
Read MoreMinisters praise Norway-UK partnership
Fisheries ministers from Norway and the UK have stressed the mutual importance of the seafood trading relationship between the two countries – but trade body Salmon Scotland has said the playing field needs to be more level. Cecilie Myrseth, Norway’s Fisheries and Oceans Minister, and Mark Spencer, UK Fisheries Minister (pictured), were speaking at last…
Read MoreMowi processing plant upgrade nears completion
Salmon producer Mowi and food processing systems business Marel are putting the final touches on Mowi Scotland’s Fort William processing plant upgrade. The project includes the installation of state-of-the-art food processing and packaging systems. When complete the upgrade will enable the facility to process and pack 200 fish per minute and increase plant capacity to…
Read MoreBioMar sees record profits on lower volumes for 2023
Aquafeed group BioMar achieved record revenue and profits on slightly reduced volumes for 2023, the company’s update for Q4 shows. BioMar saw revenue for the full year 2023 up by just under 1% to DKK 17.9bn (£2.05bn) but recorded EBITDA or operating profit of DKK 1.25bn (£143m) up 23% from the full year 2022. EBITDA…
Read MoreWelsh grant scheme opens 2024 application round
Applicants have up until 10 May to apply for a share of £1m in Welsh Government funding for the marine, fisheries and aquaculture industries. The support comes from the Welsh Marine and Fisheries Scheme, which aims to ensure environmentally and economically sustainable growth in the sector and to help Welsh coastal communities prosper. The window…
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