Weight is worth the wait at Applecross

Bakkafrost presented its second-quarter results on Monday, as reported in Fish Farming Expert and LandbasedAQ.com.

Chief executive Regin Jacobsen now elaborates on the smolt investment to LandbasedAQ, stating that the Applecross facility at Kishorn in the Scottish Highlands is still in a ramp-up phase that should have finished some time ago.

“The plant had a demanding start-up period, including technical and biological challenges. We have therefore prioritised stability, biosafety, and quality rather than increasing volumes too quickly,” says Jacobsen.

Took longer

Production at Applecross has been further ramped up, but development has been slower than he originally envisioned.

"We have good experiences with this model from the Faroe Islands, but we must also acknowledge that the escalation at Applecross has taken longer than we originally planned."

In 2025, Bakkafrost Scotland stocked 7.3 million smolts in marine sites. The smolts produced at Applecross had an average weight of 216 grams.

The goal is for the facility to produce large, high-quality smolts on a stable basis. In-house production will gradually replace smaller smolts from other facilities and external suppliers.

"Developments are going in the right direction. We expect the effect on marine production to become clearer as a larger proportion of the biomass in the sea comes from Applecross," explains Jacobsen, who yesterday had to report that profits made in the Faroes were once again partly offset by losses in Scotland.

Mixed layout

Bakkafrost stocked 3.9 million smolt in Scotland in the second quarter, compared to 917,000 in the same period last year.

The average weight for all smolts stocked fell at the same time from 170 to 137 grams, while the average weight of smolts from Applecross also dipped, from 243g to 219g.

According to the CEO, the decline in total average weight to 137g must be seen in the context of the fact that stockings still comprise both self-produced smolt from Applecross and smaller fish from other facilities and external suppliers.

"The average weight will vary between quarters depending on this composition. The strategy is unchanged. We will gradually increase the proportion of large, in-house produced smolt and reduce the dependence on smaller external smolt."

Good experiences

The investment in Scotland builds on Bakkafrost's experiences in the Faroe Islands, where the company has increased both the number and size of smolts over several years.

In 2025, Bakkafrost released 18.7 million smolts in the Faroe Islands, with an average weight of 453 grams. The plan for 2026 is around 20 million.

"Over several years, we have seen that larger and more robust smolt results in shorter production time in the sea, better survival and better biological control," says Jacobsen.

In the second quarter, Bakkafrost harvested around 26,700 tonnes in the Faroe Islands. The average weight was approximately 5.5 kilograms.

Jacobsen emphasises that several factors affect the results in the sea, and that the entire improvement cannot be attributed to smolt size.

"Experience over several generations still clearly shows that large, high-quality smolt is an important part of the explanation.

24m half-kilo smolts

In the Faroe Islands, Bakkafrost has expanded and optimised the hatchery facilities at Strond, Glyvradal, Nordtoftir, and Vidareidi. The next major step is the facility in Skalavik.

The first part of the facility was put into operation in June, and the first ova have been put in. When the plant is fully phased in, Bakkafrost will be able to produce more than 24 million smolts of around 500 grams annually in the Faroe Islands.

“The most important thing is to increase capacity without compromising on smolt quality. The smolt should be large, robust and of consistently high quality,” states Jacobsen.