Salmon Evolution's land-based farmed salmon.
Photo: Salmon Evolution.
Norway's Salmon Evolution has today released its operational update for the fourth quarter of 2025, reporting it closed the year "well positioned for 2026," with a solid foundation for continued improvement in biomass growth, harvest volumes, and harvest weights in the coming periods.
In its operational update for Q4 2025, Salmon Evolution reported a harvest of 1,203 tons of head-on gutted (HOG) salmon during the quarter, with harvesting activity relatively evenly distributed between October and November.
The land-based salmon farming company, which operates a hybrid flow-through facility at Indre Harøy near Molde, Norway, also reported that the average weight of salmon was 3.3 kg HOG, in line with that of Q3 2025, with an all-in price realization on harvested fish of ~74 NOK/kg.
Thus, the harvest volume in 2025 was 4,403 tons HOG, a figure that, according to Salmon Evolution, already reflects on the Q4 harvest the focus for 2026, with standing biomass at the end of the year above target.
In addition, in the last quarter of 2025, the company also reported the sale of approximately 69 tons Live Weight (LW) of smolt under normal market conditions, generating revenues of approximately NOK 8.3 million. However, Salmon Evolution warned that this will not be a recurring line of business but has been sold due to overcapacity.
The Norwegian land-based salmon producer added that current biomass growth under Phase 1 supports an annual harvest of approximately 6,000 tons HOG, noting that it entered 2026 with full biomass.
Likewise, it said that stable operations continued with a net biomass growth of approximately 1,592 LW tons during the quarter.
Underlying biomass growth thus remained in line with previous quarters, despite biomass production being affected by high fish logistical activity due to biomass optimization going into 2026.
Salmon Evolution added that the farm is fully stocked, with a biomass of 3,115 tons LW at the end of Q4 2025, above the run-rate target.
As the company has previously stated—in its Q3 operational update and also in its results presentation for that same quarter—Salmon Evolution prioritized entering 2026 with full biomass, in anticipation of a tight salmon market, especially during the first half of the year.
Regarding its forecasts, the Norwegian salmon producer said it expects to harvest approximately 1,800 tons HOG in Q1 2026, while the guidance for the full year is 7,000 tons HOG.
"We expect to harvest around 1,800 tons HOG in the first quarter and are well positioned for continued improvements in biomass growth, harvest volumes and harvest weights in coming periods," said CEO of Salmon Evolution, Trond Håkon Schaug-Pettersen.
The company—which reached a new milestone last summer in Phase 2 of the expansion of its facilities in Indre Harøy with the completion of two new seawater intake pipelines, announced in the second quarter of 2025 that it expected to carry out its first release of smolts from Phase 2 in the first quarter of 2026, and its first harvest in the last quarter of that same year—ended its Q4 2025 operational update by saying that it maintains its continued focus on operational excellence, with several initiatives in implementation that are expected to lead to further growth.
