Hima Seafood received the first shipment of 420,000 roe grains from Osland in its Rjukan, Telemark, Norway facility.
Photo: Hima Seafood LinkedIn Page.
January 5 marked an important milestone for Hima Seafood. What, when fully operational, will be the world's largest land-based trout farm, received the first shipment of 420,000 roe grains at its facility in Rjukan, Telemark, Norway. The roe comes from the exclusive Osland stock from Høyanger in the Sognefjord, one of the oldest in Norway.
"This monumental day will be forever marked in the history of aquaculture, as Hima Rjukan has now achieved the first of many milestones in producing sustainable seafood," said the company on its LinkedIn page.
Located in Rjukan because of its access to high quality fresh water - important for the taste of the final product - proximity to the market, access to process expertise and access to affordable, environmentally friendly energy, Hima Seafood begins its production journey with the arrival of this first shipment of roe grains. Production time is estimated at 17 months from fry to an ideal average weight of around 4 kg.
As mentioned, the roe supplier has been Osland Stamfisk. With decades of experience, Osland has been researching and breeding since the 1960s, its strain provides unique genetics, well suited for land-based production of RAS, and is recognized as one of the most established trout specialists.
Hima Seafood, which, in addition to investment from its founders, has funding from two sustainability-focused infrastructure funds and a Swedish credit fund to complete the NOK 2.5 billion (EUR 220 million - USD 240 million) mission is to produce premium trout using RAS, which the company has described as "the most sustainable and scalable form of aquaculture production available today."
The facility will be 320 meters long and have an area of about 27,000 square meters on two floors, making it the world's largest land-based trout farm. As expected, it starts partial operation now in 2024 and the plan is for stable operation in 2025. When the plant is at full capacity, it is expected to produce 150 tons of head-on-gutted (HOG) trout per week, or about 8,000 tons per year.
Virtual image of Hima Seafood's land-based trout farm project in Rjukan.
With a strong focus on fish welfare and total control over production, Hima Seafood has signed several agreements to become highly sustainable. For example, it will reuse the waste heat from the data center of the Norwegian colocation company Green Mountain to obtain the correct water temperature in its RAS solution.
Sustainability was also key to the 5-year feed contract signed between Hima Seafood and Skretting Norway, which will be the main feed supplier for its rainbow trout production. "It's about taste and sustainability. That is the most important thing for Hima," said Sten Falkum at the announcement of the agreement. "When Skretting was recently named Climate Winner by PwC, it shows that Skretting is the best feed partner to help us optimize the feed so that it can produce the lowest possible footprint. In addition, we will be a driving force for new sustainable raw materials," he added.
Hima Seafood is establishing the world’s largest land-based RAS trout farm based on technology that recirculates pure, clean mountain water at Rjukan in Telemark, Norway. Construction of the facility began in May 2021, and when fully operational, it will produce about 8,000 tonnes of premium Hima® Trout, equivalent to 22,000,000 dinners per year. The company has entered into a partnership with Villa Seafood, which is responsible for the sale, distribution, and processing of the Hima brand.