Image shared by Ode on LinkedIn of the moment when juvenile cod was being stocked directly into one of its submersible pens.
Photo: Ode.
Just over a year ago, in May 2025, Ode said it was about to launch the world's first commercial deep-farming cod operation. Late last week, the company announced a new milestone: for the first time, juvenile cod had been stocked directly into one of its largest submersible pens to date.
The Norwegian cod farmer, which, in the LinkedIn post on the announcement, described it as "an important milestone in the further development of submersible pens for cod farming," said that, thanks to this, the fish will have an excellent space to grow and thrive, with conditions designed to support strong biological performance and even better fish welfare.
This new step forward is one more in Ode's race to build what its CEO, Ola Kvalheim, sees as a new culture of farmed cod, and comes after achieving other milestones, such as being the company that, last December, marketed the world's first cod raised using deep-sea technology.
The positive results led the cod producer to go further and invest in ten new deep-farming units of AKVA group's Nautilus system last February. "We must continue to develop in order to optimize and test the effects at a larger scale," Kvalheim said at the time.
The AKVA group's Nautilus system used by Ode consists of cages specifically adapted for operations at greater depths than standard solutions, so they can benefit from favourable currents in the different cod farming sites.
As the company has previously explained, since cod is a deep-water species that thrives below the surface in cold, stable waters, this technology, by lowering the cages, allows Ode to offer better environmental conditions, greater welfare for the fish, and, crucially in aquaculture, consistent growth and quality throughout the year.
By allowing better control of light exposure, temperature and water quality, all of which are critical factors for optimal cod growth and welfare, AKVA group's submersible pens technology offers key advantages for cod farming.
Nevertheless, in explaining its latest breakthrough, Ode gave credit not only to the technology but also to everyone who worked on its development. "This milestone is the result of extensive work, testing and learning across our organisation. By building on experience from previous operations, we continue to develop and adapt submersible pen technology for cod," Ode's post in LinkedIn read.
Nautilus is AKVA group's submersible pen designed for deep-water operations, aiming to improve fish welfare and production conditions.
Photo: AKVA group.
The focus on deep farming is undoubtedly one of the pillars of Ode's strategy, though not the only one. The company, which has had a string of good news throughout the first half of the year, is also strongly committed to juvenile production.
Thus, in March, it announced the acquisition of seafood company Lumarine—which operated Norway's largest juvenile cod production facility at Tjeldbergodden, in the Aure Municipality of Møre og Romsdal county—representing a new step in the Norwegian fish farmer's continued development as a leading and fully integrated producer of farmed cod.
Just a month ago, we also learned that Ode would take over a Mowi land-based facility located in Sighaug, in the municipality of Vanylven, also in Møre og Romsdal county. Previously dedicated to cleaner fish production, it will be converted to juvenile and broodstock cod production after the summer. However, although it was Norway's largest supplier of cod in 2025, Ode's growth strategy is not solely about production.
At the end of May, Ode also opened a new office in Oslo. According to its CEO, Ola Kvalheim, this move serves a dual purpose for the company. "For us, this is about two things: being closer to where decisions are made and being able to recruit talented people who want to help build the aquaculture industry of the future," he said.
