One of Norcod's cod farms.
Photo: Norcod.
Norwegian cod farming company Norcod has released its third-quarter results for 2025, reporting NOK 37 million (EUR 3.18m / USD 3.66m) in revenue, up by almost 18% compared with the same period last year, supported by a cod market that remains exceptionally strong, with sales prices up 31% year-on-year.
However, an outbreak of Vibrio bacteria at its Jamnungen farming site led to NOK 43 million in extraordinary costs, contributing to an overall NOK 65 million (EUR 5.58m / USD 6.44m) operating loss for the period.
Norcod harvested 515 tonnes of cod during the quarter, of which 84% was graded as superior quality. However, low volumes and the mortality incident pushed production costs up to 58 NOK/kg (EUR 4.97/kg / USD 5.74/kg).
Norcod reported that an infection of Vibrio struck fish at its Jamnungen site, caused by a bacterial strain not covered by current vaccines. Norcod said it treated the fish with medicated feed and worked with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority throughout the incident.
"The Jamnungen site had shown biological performance above benchmark throughout the cycle, which makes the incident particularly disappointing," said Norcod COO, Arve-Olav Lervåg.
"Our team responded swiftly and in close cooperation with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and our veterinarians to safeguard fish welfare. We take these events seriously, and the lessons learned are already being used to safeguard against recurring incidents. We remain confident in the Jamnungen's strong underlying performance and its contribution to Norcod's long-term profitability," Lervåg added.
The company said its vaccination programme uses autogenous vaccines, to enable adaptation to emerging bacterial strains. "The identified Vibrio strain will therefore be included in future vaccine formulations to prevent reoccurrence," the company said.
Other sites performed well, with strong growth and low mortality, with Norcod reporting "favourable temperatures for growth" throughout the summer. The company is continuing to prepare new locations for stocking, including two Vestland county sites that will come online in 2026, Selsøy and Snyen in Meløy municipality, which will take its total to six active farming sites. Norcod confirmed earlier this year that equipment and vessels for these are already in place, and that it has also expanded its land-based juvenile capacity with improved commercial terms.
Norcod also said it decided to pause harvesting early in the third quarter to enable fish to reach better market weights, using the downtime to upgrade its processing plant at Kråkøy.
"We have aligned our future production plan at new and existing locations to have an ideal balance between spring and fall releases, which will ensure a stable 12-month production and harvest in the future. This results in a temporary lower level of biomass at sea but lays the foundation for profitable growth," Norcod stated.
Norcod also reports it has begun executing its long-term plan to grow production, with what CEO Christian Riber described as "a clear path toward 25,000 tonnes of annual production".
A major boost came this autumn through a NOK 157 million investment from global retailer Jerónimo Martins - a Portuguese group which has also previously invested in Andfjord Salmon - giving Norcod direct access to major European supermarket chains.
"The investment from Jerónimo Martins and our strengthened sales partnerships give Norcod the reach and stability needed to realise this potential in a growing global market for farmed cod," Riber said.
In October, Norcod also renewed its long-term strategic sales and distribution agreement with seafood marketing and distribution specialists Sirena Group, extending the partnership until 1 October 2031. The company said at the time the move is part of what it described as its "ongoing work to optimize its value chain and securing a strong platform for future growth".
Norcod indicated it expects to stay on track for its planned 2025 production (previously stated at approximately 8,000 tonnes for the full year) but warned that next year’s volumes will be lower than previously expected due to the Jamnungen losses.