Proximar Seafood announced it has been hit by an equipment failure at its Japan-based Atlantic salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility, lowering its expected harvest totals for 2024 and 2025.
Due to the incident, the company said it will have to lower its expected harvest totals by 5 percent compared to the 4,700 metric tons (MT) head-on gutted fish it recently announced in its Q3 2024 results – meaning it would harvest roughly 4,465 MT of salmon between 2024 and 2025.
The company said the incident did not cause any salmon mortality and that it has taken measures to ensure adequate water quality for the salmon. The standing biomass in the affected module was 300 MT, and Proximar said it is starting to move those fish into another operative module that it expects to complete shortly.
“Startup of a new module is moved forward to compensate,” the company said.
Proximar said the affected module will not be operational until it completes repairs, and selected batches of fish will be harvested earlier than the company planned to free up capacity and ensure adequate fish health.
“Proximar will also upgrade the other operative modules to avoid similar incidents in the other three modules, however this is not expected to impact production,” Proximar said. “Proximar has contacted the relevant insurance companies regarding coverage for damages, repairs, and relevant losses.”
This is not the first time that Proximar has had an equipment failure. In early 2024, the company reported a tank breach that caused 50,000 fish to die in one of its grow-out buildings. Proximar said that the breach was caused by leakage between the floor panels that caused soil drainage and a sudden collapse – which it has rectified by using foam injections to prevent any drainage damaging the foundation.
Proximar said it will provide updated information in its next trading update in early January 2025.
