Approaching 5,000 tonnes
Laxey has put the first tanks into operation in its second food fish section in Iceland. The biomass will now be doubled.
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Land-based salmon farmer Laxey is in the process of filling the second food fish section at its facility in Iceland’s Westman Islands. Two tanks have already been put into operation, and two more of the eight tanks will soon be stocked with fish.
“We have had around 2,500 tonnes of biomass in the food fish facility in recent months. Now the amount will increase as we put more tanks into operation,” operations director HallgrĂmur Steinsson told LandbasedAQ.
The company expects the biomass to stabilise at around 5,000 tonnes before the third food fish section is put into operation. The remaining tanks in section 2 are scheduled to be operational by the end of the year.
Good experiences with the fish
The latest fish transfers have gone as planned, although the start-up of new systems has presented some challenges.
“There are always some challenges when starting a new system design, but so far there have been nothing serious,” said Steinsson.
Laxey is also pleased with the biological results. According to Steinsson, survival is showing a trend towards over 99%, while growth and fish quality have been as expected.
“We are learning more and more about how best to operate the systems and handle large fish,” he said.
Continuing to harvest
In June, LandbasedAQ reported on the start-up of Laxey's new post-smolt facility, with over 1.1 million fish having been moved into the facility, which was built in just 10 months.
The post-smolt department consists of eight tanks with a total volume of 8,400 cubic metres. The rationale for the facility was, among other things, to better utilise the capacity of the food fish facility by allowing the fish to grow larger before being moved on.
The experience so far has been positive. Steinsson stated that the post-smolt department has contributed to improving operations at the food fish farm.
Laxey conducted its first harvest in November 2025 , and has been harvesting salmon regularly since then.
The goal for 2026 is to harvest around 4,000 tonnes of salmon. Minor delays in the delivery of new tanks have led to some reduced production, but Steinsson still expects to come close to the target.
“We now harvest regularly and simultaneously produce post-smolt,” he said.
The next development is under way
While section 2 is gradually being filled with fish, work on the third food fish section is already under way. Laxey will also build a new smolt facility, for which Akva Group has been awarded the contract for design and delivery.
In June, the company raised €47 million (£40.1m) in an oversubscribed share issue. The capital will, among other things, finance further development.
The new smolt facility will initially have the capacity to produce five million smolts annually, with the possibility of later expansion to 15 million.
The first systems in the smolt facility are expected to be operational around mid-2027, while the food fish tanks in section 3 are scheduled to be put into operation towards the end of the year.
“Now it’s about getting the entire section 2 up and running, while we build section 3 and the next smolt facility. There’s always a lot of activity at our facility, but we’ve managed to keep good progress,” said Steinsson.
Laxey has a long-term plan to expand the facility in six phases, with a total annual production capacity of around 35,000 tonnes of gutted salmon.
