Salmon farming

It begins with selecting healthy breeding stock. Eggs are collected and fertilized with sperm in hatcheries. Once the eggs are fertilized, the young salmon are raised in hatcheries. Fertilized eggs are kept in incubation trays or tanks with controlled temperature and water conditions. The eggs hatch into alevins, which are small fish with an orange yolk sac. This sac provides the fish with all the nutrients they need at this early stage. They spend their first months in fresh water, just like in the wild. After 8-10 weeks, alevins enter the fry stage. They have absorbed their yolk and have grown a little. The young rise to the surface of the water to signal that they are ready to feed.

The fry are transferred from the hatchery to freshwater tanks and continue to grow there for another 8-10 weeks until the parr stage.

At the freshwater stage, the fish are all vaccinated to protect them from possible diseases. The salmon also begin to take on a silvery color and a more streamlined shape, indicating that they have undergone the process of smoltification, a series of physiological, morphological and behavioral changes that prepares the young salmon for seawater.

In Norway, smolts are released into seawater about twice a year. In recent years, the industry has invested in freshwater facilities that can grow the smolt larger, up to 1,000 grams, shortening the time at sea.

Once the smolts are ready, they are transferred to cages in seawater. These are large nets in the ocean where the salmon spend most of their growing period. Here the salmon are raised until they are fully grown. Regular monitoring of water quality, nutrition and health is crucial at this stage.

Harvesting is spread out over the year, although most harvesting occurs in the last quarter of the year because this is the period of best growth.

After a site is harvested, the site is kept empty for 2-6 months before the next generation is put into the sea at the same site.

When ready to harvest, the fish are transported to our processing plants where they are slaughtered and gutted. We always focus on treating our salmon as gently as possible during harvesting and ensure that the fish are in as calm a state as possible throughout the process.

We always maintain the highest standards to get our fish from the fjord to the fork as quickly as possible. Freshness is critical.

Travel times are always minimal and processing units are located close to consumption points. This not only guarantees fresh fish, but also ensures that our food products can be expertly developed, prepared and packaged to meet the specific consumer demands of that local market.