Andfjord Salmon completes first post-smolt delivery

Andfjord Salmon reports that the first commercial delivery of post-smolts from its Kvalnes facility on the island of Andøya in northern Norway has now been completed.

Around 450,000 salmon with an average weight of 1,234 grams after fasting have been transferred from production pool K1 to wellboats in four batches over the past week. According to the company, the delivery corresponds to around 560 tonnes of post-smolts.

The fish have now been stocked into sea facilities at Eidsfjord Sjøfarm in Vesterålen, around 40 nautical miles to the south.

"We announced our strategy for post-smolt production in February 2024 as a supplement to the production of ready-to-harvest salmon," said Andfjord Salmon chief executive Martin Rasmussen in a stock exchange release.

“We are proud to have completed the first sale under this strategy. This has been a very successful production cycle, with good biological development, strong growth and impressive survival.”

Profiting from collaboration

According to Andfjord Salmon, each of the four transfers was carried out more efficiently than the previous one, as the organisation gained experience with the process.

Rasmussen believes the post-smolt strategy provides benefits for both Andfjord Salmon and Eidsfjord Sjøfarm.

"This strategic collaboration allows us to increase biomass throughput, which results in better operating results, a shorter path to revenue and positive effects on cash flow. Eidsfjord Sjøfarm also gets larger and more robust fish, with shorter time at sea and biological benefits such as reduced risk of disease and sea lice," he says.

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Following up on the spring initiative

The delivery comes just weeks after Andfjord Salmon stocked around 550,000 smolts into production pool K3 at the Kvalnes facility. These fish will also be used for post-smolt production for Eidsfjord Sjøfarm through the cooperation agreement between the companies.

Earlier this spring, the company also reported strong growth and survival of more than 99% in the production basins K0 and K1. CEO Martin Rasmussen told LandbasedAQ that the experiences from the first production cycle are being actively incorporated into the further scale-up of the facility.

Expecting first harvest this autumn

Andfjord Salmon has retained around 290,000 fish in K1, which will be grown to harvest size. The company expects to start harvesting these during the fourth quarter.

As of June 25, the company had a standing biomass of 1,315 tonnes of live salmon at Kvalnes, following the sale of post-smolts. Production is now taking place in pools K0, K1 and K3, and the overall survival is stated at 98.52%.

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