Eyvi CEO Kjetil Isaksen, Great Northern Salmon CEO Marianne Naess, and Eyvi CBDO Heidi Kyvik.
Photo: Great Northern Salmon.
Land-based farmer Great Northern Salmon (GNS) has announced it has signed an agreement with Norwegian technology provider Eyvi to collaborate on US salmon and trout development. Under the agreement, Eyvi is acting as GNS's supplier of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), but in addition, Eyvi's owners are making a significant strategic investment in the Maine-based company.
According to the joint statement issued, while Eyvi was looking to expand in the United States, Great Northern Salmon was working to strengthen its position with partners and investors with extensive experience in land-based projects. Thus, the strategic synergies between the two parties became evident during discussions this winter and led them to sign the agreement.
As WeAreAquaculture has been reporting, with its team of industry veterans in Maine, Great Northern Salmon - formerly Katahdin Salmon and one of the companies included in the Xcelerate Aqua portfolio - has already established a solid foothold in the United States.
With a management team with extensive experience in development and permitting processes both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as extensive construction and operations experience, GNS said that, thanks to them, the company brings to this partnership "a unique asset in a market where local expertise is hard to find."
"Evidence clearly demonstrates that having a capable, experienced, and well-connected team on the ground is essential for the successful execution of US projects," reads the release announcing the partnership between Great Northern Salmon and Eyvi.
The land-based salmon project secured key permits in May last year and began site preparation works in October. After taking a temporary break over the winter, the company has now resumed activity and is moving forward with preparations to lay the foundation for a highly efficient construction process for its 7,500 metric tons RAS salmon facility.
Like Great Northern Salmon, the Eyvi team also has extensive experience, in its case with numerous RAS facilities over the years, including large-scale operations. Among its achievements is, for example, the development of the premium Hima® Trout farm in Rjukan, Norway, which, when fully operational, is set to be the world's largest trout farm.
The Norwegian recirculating aquaculture system technology supplier has designed and built Hima's successful RAS facility, which, on schedule and with no significant production incidents, expects to have its first commercial harvest this summer, as planned.
"This installation will be a shop window for us and the whole industry," Eyvi's Chief Business Development Officer, Heidi Kyvik, said of the facility a year ago. The Hima trout farm is 8,000 metric tons, a similar size to Great Northern Salmon's Millinocket, Maine, facility.
In addition to this, Eyvi is also gaining experience with the project for Artic Seafarm in Nensa, Helgeland, Norway. The RAS supplier has designed and is currently constructing for them a land-based salmon farming facility with a first construction phase of 8,000 metric tons. Together with Totalbetong, Eyvi will deliver the hybrid recirculation system on the site.
Commenting on the agreement signed last week, both companies expressed their satisfaction, highlighting each other's strengths.
"The attention to detail in harnessing the full potential of RAS salmon production and understanding the U.S. market at Great Northern Salmon has impressed us," said Eyvi CBDO Heidi Kyvik. "We see that we have much to offer each other as we develop our regenerative production strategies for trout and salmon in the U.S. market," she added.
"We are impressed by the experience and design thinking at Eyvi," said, for her part, the CEO of Great Northern Salmon, Marianne Naess. "Equally important are the synergies we have identified from collaborating on US aquaculture development, and strategic investment from some of Eyvi's owners into Great Northern Salmon," she also stated.
The release, which mentions at several points that the collaboration agreement is for salmon and trout development - that is, it addresses projects beyond GNS's Millinocket facility, currently under development, which are for salmon-only production - ends by saying that more information about the partnership between Eyvi and Great Northern Salmon will be announced soon.
