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Andfjord Salmon on track for expansion at Kvalnes

Norwegian land-based salmon producer Andfjord Salmon reported that it is on track to proceed with the company’s expansion plans for its Kvalnes, Andøya site.

The expansion will allow the company to boost production in the facility to 8,000 metric tons (MT) of head-on-gutted (HOG) fish by 2025. Andfjord Salmon also said it expects to achieve its production target of 40,000 MT of HOG by 2030.

“We are proud to have secured vital building blocks that allow us to significantly expand our salmon farming facility at Kvalnes,” said Martin Rasmussen, chief executive officer of Andfjord Salmon. “The construction work is off to an excellent start, partly enabled by the extensive groundworks we have already conducted during the past two years.”

The company exceeded its fish growth expectations for the first harvest in Kvalnes in June 2023. The company was 40 per cent ahead of its original growth table schedule. The average weight of the fish was 3.4 kg.

Rasmussen said fish survival rate was at 97.8 per cent after 12 months in the pool and 97.5 per cent post harvest.

“From a biological perspective, the first production cycle was a success,” Rasmussen said.

The facility uses a unique undergrown flow-through technology that takes the advantages of both traditional ocean-based fish farming and closed pool, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).

The concept involves locating production tanks underground below sea level, so that seawater directly flows straight into the tank or pool, resulting in much lower energy costs. The oxygen-rich water from Norway’s coastline also has the optimal temperature for raising Atlantic salmon.