NRS signals big rise in production for 2023
NORWAY Royal Salmon (NRS) is raising its harvest forecast for next year to 50,000 tonnes, representing an increase of more than 40% on the predicted figure for the current year, the company has told the Oslo Stock Exchange.
NRS expects to harvest 35,000 tonnes (gutted weight) of salmon this year.
NRS said the higher expected output next year was down to three main factors: phasing out triploid salmon and replacing them with conventional diploid fish, which come under a different licence regime; implementation of interregional biomass limits in NRS’s three production areas, which will increase the total amount NRS is allowed to farm; and access to more smolt from a new hatchery and an agreement entered into for the purchase of large smolt.
NRS also owns Arctic Fish in Iceland, but the harvest from that source is likely to remain unchanged in 2023 at 13,000 tonnes. However, it should almost double to 24,000 tonnes by 2025, the company said.
NRS is due to merge with SalmoNor, which is expecting a harvest volume of 34,750 tonnes this year and 39,000 tonnes in 2023. Matters could be complicated, however, by Mowi’s bid for NTS ASA, the parent company of NRS (see page 12 of this issue).