Salmon farmers report reduced harvests in Q2

A number of leading salmon producers are reporting lower second quarter harvests for this year. SalMar, Lerøy Seafood, Bakkafrost and Norway Royal Salmon have all warned that Q2 is falling short of the same period last year.

Norway Royal Salmon gave no explanation in its pre-Q2 trading update, but the reduction is almost certainly due to biological issues in both Norway and in Iceland (where it trades under the name Arctic

Fish).

The NRS Norway harvest is expected to be 3,400 tonnes (gutted weight), less than half the Q2 2021 figure of 7,900 tonnes.The Arctic Fish total is 1,000 tonnes (gutted weight) against 1,800 tonnes 12 months earlier.

SalMar registered a total output for the April to June period of

32,400 tonnes against 36,600 tonnes 12 months ago. Lerøy, meanwhile, announced a harvest of just over 33,000 tonnes of salmon and trout, around 3,600 tonnes lower than last year. However, the figure is 1,000 tonnes up on the first quarter of this year.

SalMar said in May that the international data provider Kontali was predicting that the global volume of salmon harvested was likely to decrease by 7% in the second quarter of 2022 – a forecast which is now being borne out by the latest updates. It also said the UK (Scotland) would take the biggest hit with a 20% reduction.

Northern Norway was the region which saw the largest fall in volume. Lerøy and SalMar share ownership of Scottish Sea Farms, but their figures will not become known until the full Q2 reports in August.

The SalMar regional breakdown (2021 figures in brackets) is:

• Farming Central Norway 20,700 tonnes (21,000 tonnes);

• Farming Northern Norway 8,700 tonnes (13,300 tonnes); and

• Icelandic Salmon (Arnarlax) 3,000 tonnes (2,300 tonnes).

Next year SalMar’s figures will be very much larger once the acquisition of the NTS group (which includes Norway Royal Salmon) goes through.

Bakkafrost says that its second quarter harvests for both the Faroe Islands and Scotland will be down this year.

Presenting its 2022 Q2 update, the company is forecasting a total harvest of 19,700 tonnes (heads on gutted) against 28,200 tonnes over the same April to June period last year.

The figure for the Faroe Islands is 13,100 tonnes against 17,600 tonnes 12 months ago and for Scotland the expected harvest is 6,600 tonnes compared with 10,600 tonnes in Q2 2021.

The Bakkafrost Scotland figure is broken down as 2,400 tonnes from Scotland North and 4,200 tonnes from Scotland South.

Bakkafrost is currently engaged in a major overhaul to eliminate biological problems at its Scottish operation with an investment of at least £71m.