AKVA boss says world salmon production can double by 2040
Salmon farming “is at a crossroads” – world production could double by 2040, but a major investment in technology will be needed to make that happen. That is the verdict of AKVA Chief Executive Knut Nesse, given as he presented a strong set of results for the second quarter of this year.
Overall, the AKVA group delivered record high quarterly revenue in Q2 2025 of NOK 1,167m (£84.4m) compared with: NOK 1,014m in Q2 2024, an increase of 15% year on year.
EBITDA (operating profit) increased from NOK 110m (£7.96m) in Q2 2024 to NOK 145m (£10.5m) in Q2 2025.
Total order intake was NOK 1.1bn (£79.6m) in Q2 2025, up from NOK 888m (£64.3m) in Q2 2024. The order book amounted to NOK 2.7bn at the end of June 2025.
Particularly significant was a new land-based contract with Laxey, which was signed in May 2025 with a value of approximately €20m (£17.3m). Another land-based contract was awarded mid-July, also with Laxey, with an estimated contract value of €8.5m (£7.35m).
Profitability improved significantly in the second quarter compared to last year and is primarily related to the increased revenue, which brought economies of scale, and partly to improved project margins in the Land Based business.
The Sea Based division reported revenue for Q2 2025 of NOK 868m (£xxx) compared with NOK 842m). EBITDA and EBIT for the segment in Q2 ended at NOK 124m (£xxx) (Q2 2024: NOK 106m) and NOK 85m (£xxx) (Q2 2024: NOK 68m), respectively.
The Nordic region saw revenue growth of just over 12%, while the Americas and Europe and the Middle East saw falling revenue.
Land Based revenue for the second quarter was NOK 264m (£xxx) (Q2 2024: NOK 137m). EBITDA and EBIT ended at NOK 13m (£xxx) and MNOK 9m, respectively, compared with losses of NOK 1m (xxx) and NOK 4m (xxx) for the same period last year.
The revenue in the Digital segment was NOK 35m (35) in Q2 2025. EBITDA and EBIT ended at MNOK 8 (5) and MNOK -5 (-2), respectively. In June 2024, AKVE took ownership of 100% of the shares of aquaculture AI specialist Observe Technologies, in which it had originally been a minority shareholder.
AKVA bets on deep farming
Presenting the results at the Aqua Nor trade show in Trondheim, CEO Knut Nesse said that deep farming – with cages at a lower level in the water column – could add 15% to global salmon production. Deep farming has been shown to reduce the need for lice treatments by around 80-85%, he said, and is applicable in nearly 60% of existing marine farm locations.
AKVA sees this market opportunity being as much as NOK 6bn (£xxx) and, with more than 200 of its Nautilus cages already deployed, it positions itself as a leader in this field.
The “post smolt” approach, where salmon are kept in land based or otherwise protected facilities for longer before being released into sea cages, could add 30-35% to global production, Nesse said.
He added that this is “proven technology” which can reduce lice treatments by 40-45% and improve growth rates by 5%.
Finally, he acknowledged that land based farming had seen “a decade of trial and error” but, by 2024, accounted for 25,000 metric tons and by 2040 could reach 500,000 tons.
Summing up, Nesse saw a “robust outlook” for investment in the salmon sector, with 12% annual growth in the level of investment between 2015 and 2023 far outpacing the rate of harvest growth (2.3%).
Since closed containment farming is currently being trialled in up to 30 different models, he said, AKVA has a policy of monitoring this sector rather than committing to one approach – which leaves deep farming as the key emerging technology that the business is pressing ahead with.
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