Ready for giant salmon initiative in Hjelmeland

Tytlandsvik-Aqua, Illustrastion: Prosjektil

Ready for giant salmon initiative in Hjelmeland, near Stavanger

NOK 300 million is in place. In the autumn, Tytlandsvik Aqua begins to build new facilities for salmon smolt in Hjelmeland.

 

Grieg Seafood, Bremnes Seashore and Vest Havbruk enter into Tytlandsvika Aqua with equal number of shares. The plan is to build a new production facility for large smolt.

– When we get such big players involved, we can take the initiative. We begin construction this fall. This means 50 jobs during the building phase and 10 permanent employees when the plant is operational, says Nils Viga to Aftenbladet.

He is one of the owners of Fister Smolt. This is a fish farm with pools situated onshore. Here the baby salmon angel is kept for the first year of their lives. Then the fish is 80-100 grams and is called smolt, ready to move from fresh water to open nets in the ocean.

Larger fish, shorter time in the ocean

Until now, the regulations have stated that the fish should be put in the ocean before it is 250 grams. New rules make it possible to wait until the smolt weighs 1 kilo. This is where the new plant Tytlandsvik Aqua comes into play. Instead of putting the fish in the sea, the smolt will still be on land for a further 4-6 months.

Breeding companies are constantly striving to increase smolt size. This makes it possible to reduces production time in the sea, which lays the foundation for better biology, increased harvest volumes and reduced cost per kilo. This is the reason why the breeding companies like Grieg and Bremnes are targeting large smolt

– With these aboard the team, Tytlandsvik Aqua has regular customers who can handle the fish produced. The goal is to develop this company to be a producer of smolt sized between 700 and 1000 grams, according to a stock market announcement from Grieg Seafood.

 

© Sysla.no / Norway Today