Andfjord Salmon reports very low mortality level after smolt stocking
Company has also completed first of 12 new pools
A smolt stocking by land-based fish farmer Andfjord Salmon and the subsequent growth of the fish have been “better than we dared hope for”, said chief executive Martin Rasmussen.
The Norwegian company stocked approximately 350,000 smolts with an average weight of 180 grams into pool K0 at the end of September. K0 was the first pool built on Andfjord Salmon's site at Kvalnes on the island of Andøya, and was used to grow fish to harvest weight as proof of concept of the company’s laminar flowthrough seawater system.
The company has so far recorded 95 mortalities from last month’s stocking, which is equivalent to a survival rate of 99.97%, Andfjord in a press release. The fish display good external health, with minimal occurrence of visible wounds or injuries, and the average weight of the smolts has already grown by approximately 45% since release, indicating biological performance above expectations.
“The fish logistics system worked perfectly during the smolt release and we hardly lost any fish. The smolt have demonstrated a healthy appetite from day one and are growing faster than expected. This is a great start, but there is a lot of hard work to be done over the coming months before we can celebrate,” said Rasmussen.
Andfjord Salmon has also completed pool K1, which is the first new-build pool in a block of 12 at Kvalnes. The pool has been filled with seawater and will undergo extensive testing and preparations prior to the planned release of approximately 750,000 smolts in early November.
“The smolt release in K0 was hugely successful and we are aiming to replicate this as much as possible when we release smolt into K1,” said Rasmussen.
Since its previous production cycle in K0 that ended in June 2023, Andfjord Salmon has been working on developing new pools, a harbour area, and waterways that can handle large-scale production at Kvalnes. The site infrastructure is designed to support future production of approximately 48,100 tonnes (head on gutted and post-smolt) at Kvalnes.
