Fry and smolt - hatchery production

Self sufficient with high quality smolt

As a leading international producer of farmed salmon, having access to adequate supplies of high quality smolt is crucial to SalMar. It is therefore of strategic importance to the company to be as far as possible self-sufficient in smolt.

SalMar produces fry and smolt at six separate facilities in Møre og Romsdal, South Trøndelag, North Trøndelag and Troms. In 2008 the company produced approx. 15 million smolt.

In central Norway SalMar has five hatcheries located at Follafoss in Verran, Kjørsvikbugen in Aure, Setran in Osen, Straumsnes in Tingvold and Langstein in Stjørdal. SalMar owns 60 per cent of the Langstein facility, while the remaining hatcheries are wholly owned. The smolt production in Northern Norway is undertaken at SalMar’s facility at Gjøvika. Almost all of SalMar’s smolt production is used to supply its own fish farms. The company currently has adequate supplies of smolt of the required quality.

SalMar’s hatcheries have access to freshwater resources which will allow continued growth in output. This is particularly true of the largest hatcheries at Follafoss and Kjørsvikbugen. In the past years SalMar has also invested in recycling technology which permits a higher production of smolt with less consumption of fresh water.

SalMar’s hatcheries are largely built up around alternative energy resources. The Follafoss facility uses the waste water from a nearby wood processing plant to heat the water used in production by means of a heat exchanger, while the cooling water from Statoil’s methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden is correspondingly used by the Kjørsvikbugen hatchery. These measures result in reduced energy costs. Both at Follafoss and Langstein the water utilised for smolt production has previously been used for power generation. In order to have a back-up for the water from the wood processing plant investments in recycling and heat pump technology are being undertaken at Follafoss.

High quality smolt is a precondition for the safe and effective production of farmed salmon. By establishing its own standards and associated action plans SalMar has sought to focus on smolt quality. To make effective use of the production potential of SalMar’s fish farms it is important that the transfer of smolt to the sea is spread over the whole year. Achieving non-seasonal smolt production has therefore been an important objective for SalMar’s hatcheries.

The company’s hatcheries have substantially upgraded their facilities the last few years. This effort has been associated partly with necessary production growth, partly with environmental measures such as waste water treatment, and, not least, with measures to prevent fish from escaping from the hatcheries. SalMar has a zero-tolerance policy with respect to escape from its hatcheries.