Andfjord Salmon harvests first food fish since 2023

Norwegian land-based fish farmer Andfjord Salmon has made its first harvest of grow-out fish for three years.

The fish are the first batch of grow-out salmon to be harvested from the company's current production cycle, which commenced last autumn. They have been grown in pool K0, the pilot pool Andfjord used as proof-of-concept for its laminar flow-through system at Kvalnes on the island of Andøya.  

The proof-of-concept generation was harvested in 2023, after which Andfjord paused food fish production to focus on building more pools. It has since grown two cycles of post-smolts which it sold to local in-sea fish farmer Eidsfjord Sjøfarm, but has not had another food fish harvest until now.

Exceptional survival

Andfjord said the harvest fish cycle has been defined by solid biological conditions, strong growth, and exceptional survival rate.

Over the past week, the first batch of around 120,000 salmon has been harvested from pool K0, at an average live weight of 3.6 kilograms per fish, equivalent to a total biomass of around 432 tonnes (live weight). This corresponds to an average weight of 3.1 kilograms HOG (head-on gutted) and biomass of 367 tonnes HOG. The batch achieved a superior share of 93%.

The survival rate in pool K0 was 97.95% at the time of the first harvest.

The remaining salmon in pool K0 will be harvested in two separate batches, most likely in the current quarter and Q1 2027, at higher average weights. The remaining standing biomass in pool K0 is currently around 800 tonnes (live weight).

A key purpose of the staged harvesting process is to optimise the biomass density in the pool, which enables the remaining salmon to reach higher harvest weights at a faster pace than in a fully stocked pool.

Aiming for 4kg+ HOG

Approximately 350,000 smolts with an average weight of around 180 grams were stocked into pool K0 on September 30 last year, and around 750,000 smolts with an average weight of 160 grams were stocked into pool K1 five weeks later. Approximately 450,000 of the K1 fish were transferred to Eidsfjord Sjøfarm as large post-smolts with an average weight of 1,234 grams in June this year.

Andfjord Salmon estimates that harvest weights (live weight) from pools K0 and K1 will range from an initial 3.6 kg to around 5.6 kg for the final harvest. The average harvest weight is estimated at above 4 kg (HOG), in line with the long-term strategy of targeting an average harvest weight of 4.0-4.5 kg.

“We are pleased to have completed the first step in harvesting our first full production cycle since the pilot cycle. The biological conditions have been stable throughout, reflected in a very high survival rate and solid growth,” said Andfjord Salmon chief executive Martin Rasmussen.

“The first batch harvest is in line with our plans, but a final evaluation of the performance in K0 will have to await the harvest figures for the remaining fish in the pool. Nevertheless, this is a very encouraging start to the harvest period.”