In the first quarter of 2026, all of Mowi's farming regions had higher production than in the same period last year.
Photo: Mowi.
After closing 2025 with a record for both revenues and harvest volumes, according to its trading update for the first quarter, Mowi has started the year with a new record, as the 136,000 gutted weight tons (GWT) harvested in Q1 2026 constitute a historical record for a first quarter.
Compared to the 108,000 tons harvested last year, this represents a 26% year-on-year growth, and an increase of 6.25% and 8,000 tons compared to the estimate that the company made in its Q4 2025 results presentation, in which it had estimated a total harvest volume of 128,000 GWT.
In the first quarter of 2026, this volume growth was driven by higher output across all of Mowi's farming regions, with Norway achieving the highest total volume, and Iceland being the fastest growing in percentage terms.
By region, Farming Norway made the largest contribution, as mentioned, with 75,500 tons, 22% more than in Q1 2025 when it harvested 61,700 tons. It was followed by Farming Chile, with 21,000 tons, 7,100 more than the 13,900 tons of the previous year, representing a 51% increase. Farming Scotland, with 20,500 tons, was 16% higher, and 2,900 GWT more than the 17,600 tons of the previous year.
In the quarter in which the legal avenue to recover licenses was definitively closed for Mowi in the Discovery Islands, in British Columbia, Farming Canada recorded a harvest of 8,000 tons, which, compared to the 4,900 harvested in Q1 2025, represented an increase of 63%, 3,100 GWT more than last year.
Meanwhile, Farming Iceland (i.e., Arctic Fish, Mowi's salmon farming company in Iceland) recorded a harvest of 6,000 tons, compared to the 4,900 harvested in the same quarter last year, which was a difference of 3,100 GWT, equivalent to an increase of 63%.
Farming Faroes, with 3,000 tons, and Farming Ireland, with 2,000 tons, completed Mowi's record first-quarter harvest. Since the salmon company presented the combined results for these two regions in last year's results report, we cannot determine the individual growth percentages. However, compared to the 2,400 tons they recorded together in the first quarter of 2025, the 5,000 tons they achieved combined in Q1 2026 represented a 108% year-on-year increase.
Regarding the financial side, Mowi reported that in this first quarter of the year, the group's operational EBIT was approximately EUR 221 million compared to EUR 214 million for the same period in 2025, meaning it increased by 3%.
Meanwhile, the blended farming cost in Q1 2026 was EUR 5.46/kg in the quarter, compared to EUR 5.89/kg in the same period last year, representing a cost reduction of EUR 0.43/kg. In addition, the company stated that the harmful algal bloom in southern Norway negatively impacted costs by approximately EUR 10 million, or EUR 0.13/kg for the Norwegian volumes.
Regarding total operational EBIT per kg across the value chain in Q1, region by region, it was approximately EUR 2.40 for Norway; EUR 1.50 for Scotland; EUR 0.35 for Chile; EUR 0.10 for Canada; also EUR 0.10 for Ireland; EUR 0.95 for the Faroe Islands; and EUR 0.35 for Iceland.
Finally, regarding the other segments, Mowi reported that operating EBIT in Consumer Products was EUR 20 million, while that of the Feed division (Mowi Feed) was EUR 6 million. At the end of the quarter, the group's reported net interest debt (NIBD) was approximately EUR 2,740 million (excluding the effects of IFRS 16).
Following this trading update, the full Q1 2026 report from the Norwegian salmon giant will be published on May 13, 2026.