Andfjord Salmon stocks new pool
The land-based fish farmer has successfully released approximately 750,000 smolts into the recently completed K1 pool at Kvalnes, Andøya, in Norway.
The fish, with an average weight of approximately 160 grams, have been transferred from the wellboat Steigen (Frøy Shipping Company) to pool K1 in recent days (see video, above). According to Barentswatch, the wellboat collected the fish from SalMar's Jøvik hatchery.
"The fish have quickly adapted to their new flow-through seawater environment," reported Andfjord Salmon.
Pool K1 is the first of four pools being built adjacent to each other in the current development phase. Another eight pools will be added later, making a total of 12 pools in a 6 x 2 grid in a large trench at Kvalnes that has already been excavated.
Crucial milestone
"Initiating fish farming operations in the first new pool of this build-out phase is a crucial operational and commercial milestone for Andfjord Salmon. It demonstrates our ability to replicate large-scale flow-through systems and, more importantly, ramps our fish farming operations considerably," said Andfjord chief executive Martin Rasmussen.
Andfjord Salmon has stocked about 1.1 million smolts during the autumn.
99.92% survival so far
The first 350,000 fish, with an average weight of around 180 grams, were released into pool K0 on September 30. K0 is the proof-of-concept pool that was used by Andfjord Salmon to grow its first cycle of fish.
So far, only 264 dead fish have been registered in pool K0 since the stocking, which corresponds to a survival rate of 99.92%.
"The conditions in K0 are first-class, with high survival and good growth. As of today, the fish in K0 have an average weight of 410 grams. This means that the fish have grown by approximately 128% since release, which is ahead of our plan," says Rasmussen.
