SalMar's harvest volumes continued to increase in Q1 2026

Following the trend established in the last quarter of 2025, SalMar's harvest volumes increased again in the first quarter of 2026. The Norwegian salmon company has released its Q1 trading update, in which strong results in Central Norway and the recovery of its operations in Iceland stand out.

Unlike the challenging start to the year SalMar experienced in 2025, when its harvest volumes fell by 19.28%, the company has reported a 41.21% increase at the beginning of 2026. Specifically, its consolidated harvest volumes reached a total of 60,300 gutted weight tons (GWT), compared to 42,700 GWT in the same quarter last year.

Region by region, Farming Central Norway, the area where SalMar Group has the most production capacity—with 88,387 tons MAB (Maximum Allowable Biomass), 1,100 tonnes in development licenses and several R&D licenses in collaboration with other companies—not only recorded the largest harvest volumes in total numbers with 35,900 GWT in Q1 2026, but also the largest growth since, compared to the 21,100 GWT of Q1 2025, it represented an increase of 70.14%.

The next region with the best overall results was Farming Northern Norway, where SalMar has 78,181 tonnes MAB for the production of salmon, and also cooperates on several R&D licenses. There, the company achieved a total harvest of 20,400 GWT in the first quarter of this year, which, compared to 19,300 GWT for the same period in 2025, represents a year-on-year increase of 5.69%.

This quarter, SalMar's subsidiary in Iceland, Icelandic Salmon—Arnarlax's parent company—ranked third in total production, with a total harvest of 3,700 GWT. Although this figure is small compared to operations in Norway—and has even decreased slightly from the 3,800 GWT recorded in the previous quarter—the remarkable aspect of this result is that, compared to the same period last year, when harvest volumes reached 1,100 tons, it represents an increase of 236.36%.

Meanwhile, the offshore aquaculture business of the Norwegian company, SalMar Ocean, recorded total harvest volumes of 300 GWT, which, compared to 1,200 in Q1 2025, represents a decrease of 75%. Comprising two semi-marine units, Ocean Farm 1 and Arctic Offshore Farming, with 12,416 tons MAB for the production of salmon, Norwegian authorities announced last December the withdrawal of Arctic Ocean Farming's Fellesholmen facilities, effective from January 1.

Nevertheless, subsequently, in March, the company received approval from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries to convert a set of development licenses linked to its Arctic Ocean Farming venture, corresponding to 6,112 tons MAB, into standard aquaculture licenses, allowing the capacity to be counted as part of the company's regular production.

At that time, the Norwegian salmon company said the approval implied that the authorities considered that the criteria for the allocation of these licenses had been met. "For SalMar, this represents a recognition of the company's significant investments and the expertise that has been built up within offshore aquaculture," it stated.

It should be noted that the figures presented in this trading update do not include the results of SalMar's operation in Scotland, Scottish Sea Farms, which SalMar co-owns with fellow Norwegian company Lerøy Seafood.

SalMar, which closed 2025 in a positive trend, with a record harvest volume for the year and lower cost levels in the fourth quarter, will present its full Q1 2026 report on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.

At that time, in addition to updates on its offshore operations, the company will likely also report on its agreement to acquire 100% of the salmon farming company Øylaks, of which it has already owned 51% of the shares and largely operated since 2022.