Gigante Salmon has completed its first harvest
Land-based fish farmer reports negligible mortality in flow-through facility in Norway
From the second quarter, the company reports the following main points:
- Two of three pools now in operation
- Winter 24 generation harvested, with a 91% superior share
- The board of directors of Gigante Salmon AS re-elected at the general meeting on May 21, 2025
- Received financing of NOK 50 million from Gigante Havbruk AS
A total of 694 tonnes HOG (head on gutted) were harvested from the trial production, with an average weight of 3.8 kg of round fish.
The trial production had a feed factor of 1.1 and a production cost of 70 NOK/kg HOG. Realised price
amounted to NOK 64/kg, in line with
market price for salmon at the time of
harvest, and Gigante Salmon made a net loss of NOK 2.9m (£210,000) for the quarter.
'Almost no mortality'
At the results presentation at the Aqua Nor trade show in Trondheim today, Gigante Salmon chief executive Kjell Lorentsen said he is not expecting a price bump until Christmas nears.
"I would be very surprised if there were to be a sharp price increase in the coming months. But I have hope that when we enter December, the price of salmon will increase."
Lorentsen told LandbasedAQ that the mortality rate of the fish in the facility is now very low.
"I wouldn't be wrong if I said that there is almost no mortality. We have learned a lot along the way, and have been lucky to bring many talented people into the company," he said.
Lorentsen also pointed out that operating such a facility is energy-intensive.
"At full production, when we have all three pools in operation, each kilogram will require three kilowatts. That is around 45 million kilowatt hours a year, if we produce 16,000 tonnes of fish."
Events after the end of the quarter:
- The autumn 24 generation was sorted and moved from pool A to pool B
- Additional financing of up to NOK 100m was arranged
"With two of three pools in use and the first harvest completed, the facility is now operating fully in line with our expectations. We are about to gain a fantastic tool for producing quality fish," said Lorentsen in a stock exchange release.
The development of the facility is now in its final phase, with the third and largest production basin due to be completed in Q4, on track for the planned ramp-up to full capacity towards 16,000 tonnes HOG annually from 2028.
The company plans to stock 2.2 million smolts in the second half of 2025.
