How Eide is transforming the way salmon is farmed

Eide has forged its own path to growing salmon farming in a sustainable, innovative way. 

Established 50 years ago by the Eide family, the third-generation, family-owned company may not be the biggest salmon producer, but its rigorous, curated approach puts it in a class of its own.  

The company is well on track to produce 10,000 tons of organic salmon in 2025, becoming the leading organic supplier in the world.  

“Our philosophy is organic 52,” CEO of Eide Seafood Giampiero Scanu said. “Fresh organic should be made available to distributors and consumers every single week of the year, and that’s exactly what we do”.  

Eide´s commitment to the environment and sustainability goes beyond producing organic fish. The company was the first carbon neutral salmon producer in the world, and in 2021, it unveiled the world’s first zero-emissions salmon: Salmon Zero. 

“We take sustainability very seriously – we became carbon neutral long before it was a global trend,” CEO of Eide Family, Sondre Eide said. 

Still, it doesn’t matter if the fish is organic if the consumer doesn’t trust that it is. That’s why Eide is partnering with DNA TraceBack, a DNA-based traceability and verification solution, to incorporate this groundbreaking feature into every single salmon it produces.
  
“Seafood mislabelling and counterfeiting is a true emergency, and organic salmon is one of the most affected products. Distributors often buy through multiple steps, and each of them dramatically increases the risk of frauds – that risk is unacceptable,” Scanu said.

With DNA TraceBack, buyers can be certain that their organic salmon is authentic.

Adopting innovative technologies is critical to Eide’s approach to salmon farming. In recent years, the company has made integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) a key part of its operations, cooperating closely with the leading Norwegian research institutions to help multitrophic aquaculture fulfill its potential in Norway and abroad. 

“IMTA systems transform the nutrients released by fish farms into precious foods for direct human consumption and sustainable feed ingredients for the farming of land and aquatic organisms. We believe that one day blue mussel meal will become an important ingredient in salmon feed and will contribute significantly to reduce FIFO factor. FIFO zero is our ultimate goal” Scanu said. 

This is not the only advantage with IMTA.  

“IMTA systems have a degree of biodiversity higher than natural ones. They provide shelters and food for wild organisms and have an incredible potential in terms of bringing life back to depleted areas. IMTA can make positive impact aquaculture a reality,” Scanu said. “We want to make aquaculture better for the fish, the people and the planet.” 

Eide is also investing heavily in pioneering new production technologies, like its Watermoon system. 

Raising organic salmon is difficult – there are only a handful of places with the requisite freshwater needed to keep lice levels low. Watermoon solves this by eliminating the problem of lice, allowing Eide to raise salmon virtually anywhere in the world.  

The proprietary, closed-containment technology offers 100 percent protection against salmon lice and escapes with near-zero emissions. Eide has already successfully completed three full production cycles in small- and medium-scale Watermoon prototypes. 

“We pioneered next-gen submersible closed containment at industrial scale,” Eide said. “So much of the legislation in Norway, Canada, and the United Kingdom is based on the problems created by salmon lice – the best solution to those problems is to cut salmon lice out of the equation with closed containment.” 

The full-scale Watermoon proof of concept used in the current production cycle has a height of over 70 meters – 1.5 times larger than the Statue of Liberty - and a volume of over 30,000 cubic meters.   

“Nothing that big has ever been done before,” Eide said. “We built it ourselves.”  

The Watermoon proof of concept currently houses almost 200,000 fish, and the company plans to begin harvesting fish as a size of around 5 kilograms at the beginning of 2025. Eide will launch the product commercially in the U.S. just ahead of the Seafood Expo North America show in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in March 2025. 

Eide continues to expand its operations. 

In 2022, the company opened Salmon Eye, a one-of-a-kind knowledge-dissemination center housed in a floating art installation, and Iris, a Michelin star fine dining restaurant. And in 2024, Eide acquired the renowned slaughtering, packing, and processing facilities H-107 in Brandasund, where it plans to slaughter almost 40,000 tons in 2025. Production will increase to 60,000-70,000 per year by 2027. H-107 will produce both fresh and frozen products, head-on gutted whole fish, fillets, portions, and other fresh or frozen value-added products. 

“Every day, when we get up in the morning, we think about ways to improve the way aquaculture is done” Eide said. “We are convinced that aquaculture will change the world. That’s why we’re here.”