August 29, 2022

Bakkafrost to set up new hatchery in Scotland, UK

Bakkafrost has secured land to build a large new hatchery in Scotland, the United Kingdom, in addition to its site at Applecross which is being upgraded.

Bakkafrost chief executive officer Regin Jacobsen announced the project when he presented his second quarter report this week, showing a group wide operating profit of £66 million (US$77.1 million).

He said the company had acquired the land during the first quarter of this year. Depending on the final survey, the construction of the hatchery will begin before the end of this year.

Jacobsen added there had been some challenges in one farming area, although they were not as severe as in previous quarterly periods.

"This demonstrates that the biological risks are still high. Bakkafrost's strategy to implement large smolt in Scotland is key to reduce the biological risk and to improve biological performance," he said. "Building hatchery capacity in Scotland is therefore the topmost priority for Bakkafrost. The ongoing expansion of the Applecross hatchery is progressing well and will reach an important milestone by the end of this year when the fourth expansion phase is expected to be completed.

"This enables Bakkafrost to significantly improve the quality and increase the size of the smolt."

In 2023, Bakkafrost's hatchery at Applecross, Wester Ross (currently being expanded) will ramp up production to around eight million smolts at 250g. It is intended to reach full capacity, with an increase of 40%, in mid-2024.

"In Q2 2022, the average weight of released smolt in Scotland was 101g, which is 32% higher than in Q2 2021," Jacobsen said. "New hatcheries in Scotland will increase the total production capacity up to around 18 million smolts of around 500g in 2026."

- Fish Farmer