Land-based salmon farmers join bid to make waste a resource 

Four of Iceland’s leading land-based fish farms - First Water, Laxey, Samherji Fishfarming, and Thor Salmon - have signed a declaration of intent to collaborate on the responsible and sustainable management of aquaculture waste streams.

The goal of the partnership is to convert waste into valuable products, strengthen the sustainability in land-based aquaculture and advance Iceland’s circular economy. As part of this commitment, the companies will prepare a joint venture to process fish sludge. A business plan and financing needs assessment is to be completed before the end of October. The Icelandic Farmers’ Association and other key stakeholders will play an active role in the process.

The initiative builds on the work of Terraforming LIFE, an EU-funded project, in which both First Water and the Icelandic Farmers’ Association are key partners. Together with other collaborators, they are pioneering methods to convert a mixture of saline fish sludge and livestock manure into high-quality organic fertiliser and biogas.

Sideflow technology

The Terraforming LIFE project optimises a new water recycling technology (Sideflow), complementary to the “Flow-Through System with Reuse” (FTS-R) aquaculture systems being used in Iceland.

A combination of processed sludge and animal manure will be transported by a mobile treatment unit to a bio-fertiliser plant.

Lastly, it will be boosted with digestate from fish that die during rearing, and eventually dried to create a powerful natural fertiliser and biogas.

Terraforming LIFE is targeting large reductions in methane and carbon dioxide, and the production of enough fertiliser to cover large areas of farmland.

A pivotal achievement

“The declaration demonstrates that Icelandic land-based fish farming is ready to join forces in developing sustainable solutions," said Margrét Ágústa Sigurðardóttir, chief executive of the Icelandic Farmers’ Association. 

"Together with Terraforming LIFE and the Icelandic Farmers’ Association, this initiative aims to turn waste streams into valuable products and strengthen Iceland’s circular economy. It is a pivotal achievement for aquaculture and a model for others to follow." 

• Thor Salmon has put the first batch of ova in its smolt facility and raised €28 million (£24.3m) in private capital earlier this year to rfund the first phase of a grow-out facility. Phase 1 will have a production capacity of 4,750 tonnes of salmon. The first harvest is planned for the autumn of 2027 and the long-term goal is an annual production of 20,000 tonnes.
• Samherji is building a facility called Salmon Garden that will have an annual harvest capacity of 36,000 tonnes when completed. The first construction phase will have a capacity of 12,000 tonnes annually. 
• First Water, formerly called Landeldi, intends to produce 50,000 tonnes of salmon a year by 2030. Like Thor Salmon and Samherji, its site is located on Iceland's south coast. All three projects take advantage of pure underground water filtered through volcanic rock. 
• Laxey's hatchery and grow-out facility are sited a short distance apart from each other on the island of Vestmannaeyjar, close the stretch of coast where the other land-based farms are being developed. The first harvest from the first phase of the grow-out facility is planned for November. When the entire facility is completed after six construction phases, the goal is an annual production of 27,000 tonnes of salmon (head on gutted).