Quota restrictions bite into Lerøy Seafood's performance in Q3

Third quarter trading update by the Norwegian seafood giant shows a slight decline in salmon and trout aquaculture harvest volumes, but a notable drop in wild catch of cod.

Louisa Gairn

Published:7th Oct, 2024 at 5:00 PM

Updated:7th Oct, 2024 at 5:00 PM

Lerøy Seafood Group has released its Q3 2024 trading update, reporting a slight decrease in total harvest volumes of salmon and trout and a notable drop in wild catch volumes, compared to the same period last year.

In the third quarter, Lerøy’s total salmon and trout harvest volume reached 51,400 gutted weight tonnes (GWT), a reduction from 53,900 GWT during the Q3 2023. This decline represents a 4.6% year-over-year decrease.

However, the results varied across Lerøy’s primary regions.

Lerøy Aurora in northern Norway reported an increase in its harvest volumes, reaching 17.6 GWT, up from 16.5 GWT in Q3 2023. In contrast, Lerøy Midt saw a significant decrease, harvesting 16.9 GWT, down from 22.4 GWT in the previous year.

Lerøy Sjøtroll also experienced a slight decline, with harvest volumes of 16.8 GWT, compared to 14.9 GWT last year. Within Lerøy Sjøtroll’s harvest, the trout volumes dropped slightly to 6.8 GWT from 7.1 GWT in Q3 2023.

Cod catch dropped by almost 60% compared with last year

Meanwhile, Lerøy’s wild fish division, Lerøy Havfisk, reported a decrease in catch volumes. The total wild catch in Q3 2024 amounted to 13,300 tonnes, down from 14,400 tonnes in the same quarter of the previous year.

Cod catch volumes showed the most pronounced drop, with only 1,500 tonnes caught in Q3 2024, compared to 3,500 tonnes in Q3 2023. This reflects a 7.6% decrease in overall catch volume and a 57.1% reduction in cod catch, a shift likely due to quota restrictions.

This continued a trend already reported by the Group in Q2 2024. "The outlook for wild catch is very challenging due to significant quota reductions in recent years. The quota advice for 2025 indicates further cuts. This development is undoubtedly challenging for this part of our business," Lerøy Seafood CEO Henning Beltestad said in August, presenting the second-quarter results.

As WeAreAquaculture previously reported, due to quota cuts, fresh cod landings in Norway as a whole fell drastically in the first half of the year. Exports of fresh wild cod dropped 29% to 22,014 tons, while the value of exports decreased by 24% to NOK 1.4 billion (EUR 122 million / USD 131.9 million).

Lerøy Seafood Group's complete quarterly report is due for release on November 14, 2024.