Photo: Andfjord Salmon
Norwegian land-based aquaculture company Andfjord Salmon has announced the completion of its first post-smolt sale, transferring approximately 450,000 fish to regional fish farmer Eidsfjord Sjøfarm.
The sale, which had been agreed for June under the companies’ strategic post-smolt partnership, follows stronger-than-expected growth in pool K1 at Andfjord Salmon’s Kvalnes facility in Andøya, Norway, the company said.
The fish, which had an average weight of 1,234 grams following pre-transfer fasting, were transferred from pool K1 to a wellboat in the harbour over the past week. Eidsfjord Sjøfarm has now released the acquired post-smolt into ocean net pens in the Vesterålen region, Andfjord Salmon said.
Andfjord Salmon CEO Martin Rasmussen said the company’s post-smolt production strategy, announced in February 2024, was designed to complement its human-grade salmon production and make full use of available pool capacity.
“We are proud to complete the first post-smolt sale under this strategy. This has been a highly successful production cycle, with healthy biological conditions delivering strong fish growth and an impressive survival rate,” Rasmussen said.
"This strategic cooperation enables us to achieve higher biomass turnover, with the associated benefits of improved EBIT, a shorter runway to revenue and positive cash flow effects. Eidsfjord Sjøfarm, in turn, benefits from releasing a robust fish into ocean net pens and from a shorter ocean-based grow-out phase. The latter delivers multiple biological and environmental advantages, including lower proneness to disease and reduced exposure to salmon lice," he added.
Following the sale, Andfjord Salmon has retained approximately 290,000 fish in pool K1 for grow-out, with harvesting expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company also has production underway in pool K0 for grow-out and pool K3 for post-smolt, with its first smolt release for the third pool completed in early June.
As of 25 June, total standing biomass at Kvalnes was 1,315 tonnes of live salmon, following the sale of approximately 560 tonnes of post-smolt. Andfjord Salmon also reports an aggregated average survival rate of 98.52%.