SalMar is spending NOK 500 million on establishing the Salmon Living Lab.
Seafood Norway
SalMar CEO Frode Arntsen has reiterated his call for better underestanding of salmon biology through SalMar's "Salmon Living Lab" initiative at a recent Norwegian industry event.
In March, the Norwegian salmon farming giant announced it was investing NOK 500 million (USD 47m / EUR 43m) in the initiative, and was seeking collaboration with industry leaders, NGOs, academia, and other agents, with feed company Cargill signing on as its first partner.
At the Norwegian Seafood Council's salmon conference in Bergen last month, Arntsen said "we need to look at the salmon's sustainability, fish welfare and how we utilize both the sea and the input factors even better," in remarks released this week by the Council.
Now, over 100 stakeholders have signed up with a desire to contribute to the initiative, Arntsen said.
Arntsen commented that in the last 3–4 years, although global demand for salmon has increased, production in Norway has stagnated - and alluded to the Norwegian industry's disastrous fish health and mortality rates during 2023.
"Salmon production has become a high-tech industry that has succeeded with a number of good solutions and brought us forward. There are, however, other factors that have developed in the wrong direction. Both the feed factor, the proportion of damaged fish and the mortality rate have increased. Now is the time to acknowledge the challenges and increase knowledge about salmon biology," Arntsen said.
"We need leading knowledge in the entire value chain, right from genetics to the final product. We want to create an innovation center to improve and develop the food chain in salmon farming. Some of the results will be public, while some will be more company-specific," he added.
The CEO remarked on the past winter as a "demanding" period for SalMar.
"We have had several localities that have been heavily attacked by jellyfish. Together with low sea temperatures in northern Norway, ulcer bacteria and the highest proportion of production fish of all time, it has been demanding," he said.
"We at Salmar will work to improve the entire value chain, create even better sustainability and create even better salmon and even better fish welfare. Then together with all good forces, and not least the Seafood Council, we will get help to get this product out into the world in the coming years as well," Arntsen said.
SalMar has announced it aims to produce around 360,000 tonnes over a three-year period, which would mean a growth in volume of 35% compared to 2023. The company's estimated harvest volume for 2024 stands at 277,500 tonnes.
On 4 July, SalMar released its operational update for the second quarter of 2024, showing a harvest volume of 44,800 tonnes HOG from its Norwegian and Icelandic operations.
This marks a slight incease from the same quarter last year, when it reached 44,300 tonnes.
SalMar announced the consolidated harvest volumes for the quarter as: Farming Central Norway: 27,100 tgw, Farming Northern Norway: 17,000 tgw, Icelandic Salmon: 700 tgw.
The full report for the second quarter is expected to be presented during August.