Gigante Salmon had a breakthrough year – but it also had its challenges
Last year the land-based farm went from being a development project to an operational salmon production facility, although it wasn't all plain sailing
In the company's annual report, chief executive Kjell Lorentsen calls the first harvest from Gigante's flow-through facility on the island of Lille Indre Rosøy in 2025 an important milestone in the company's history.
"The construction and commissioning of the facility has developed in line with plans, and we are now approaching a completed facility with good fish welfare and stable production conditions," he writes in the report.
In total, Gigante Salmon harvested about 1,040 tonnes in 2025, and around 2.4 million smolts were stocked.
Lorentsen writes that the ramp-up of production continues as planned, and in the second half of 2026 the company plans to release 3.3 million additional smolts.
"The year is behind us, but it has laid a solid foundation for everything we will create in 2026," he writes.
Good capacity
At year-end, there were 3,000 tonnes of biomass. Farming activity at Lille Indre Rosøy in 2025 took place in the two completed production basins, A and B, while construction of the third basin continued towards planned commissioning in 2026.
This capacity has made it possible to carry out both the company's first test production cycle and the first part of the "Autumn 2024" commercial generation.
The test cycle resulted in a total volume of approximately 700 gutted weight tonnes of salmon, with a superior share of 91% and a feed factor of 1.10.
"The results from this production provided valuable insight into how water flows, feed utilisation and operating rhythm behave in practice, and formed an important starting point for future optimisation. The experience was carried over to the subsequent commercial production in basin B, which started in the fourth quarter."
Operational adjustments
Very low CO2 levels in the water have also been reported, typically between 1 and 2 mg/l, far below the Norwegian Food Safety Authority's upper limit of 15 mg/l.
At the same time, some operational improvements have been necessary, such as the transition from underwater lighting to surface lighting in pool A to reduce the risk of sexual maturation.
Sludge handling has required ongoing attention and optimisation, and is one of the areas the company is still working systematically on.
"This year's operational challenges have mainly been related to events beyond the company's control," Gigante writes.
A severe storm during the Christmas period resulted in a power outage that lasted nearly a day.
"The incident provided a practical test of the emergency response solutions and technical backup systems at the facility. Emergency power was quickly activated, and the situation was quickly brought under control, confirming the robustness of the safety and redundancy systems."
Biological challenges
The annual report states that throughout 2025, the Autumn 2024 generation has had a more varied development than initially expected.
"The period has been characterised by certain biological challenges, particularly related to gill health, which has resulted in higher mortality than desired."
In addition, operational challenges arose in the summer of 2025 in connection with moving the fish to a new pool. According to the annual report, this resulted in the fish losing around one month of growth in what is normally the most favourable growth period.
"Despite these conditions, the generation has shown good robustness, and the fish that were harvested in the last quarter of the year maintained high quality and delivered good results," the board points out.
Directors also write that now, in 2026, there is a somewhat increased incidence of winter ulcers and mortality, but that there is a dialogue with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority related to this.
In addition to gill health and normal seasonal variations (temperature), the power outage at the facility on December 27 is a contributing factor. Technical design, operation and optimisation of handling and production practices are being continuously assessed to reduce wound periods.
"The experience has provided valuable learning that is now being actively used in the further optimisation of operations. Solutions for sludge management are an important part of this work, and we will get better at this," the board promises.
