Norway’s fish farmers experienced a drop in profitability from 2007 to 2008, according to a survey the country’s Directorate of Fisheries preliminarily released on Wednesday.
Farmers’ operating margin slipped from 13.2 percent in 2007 to 8.5 percent in 2008, and total profit fell from NOK 6.1 billion (USD 1 billion, EUR 709 million) in 2006 to NOK 2.2 billion (USD 364 million, EUR 256 million) in 2007 and NOK 907 million (USD 150 million, EUR 105 million) last year.
A 14.3 percent increase in average production costs per kilogram of fish — from NOK 15.96 in 2007 to NOK 18.24 in 2008 — and a decrease in productivity are to blame for last year’s drop in profitability. For example, average feeding costs per kilogram of fish jumped from NOK 9.07 (USD 1.49, EUR 1.05) in 2007 to NOK 9.90 (USD 1.64, EUR 1.15) in 2008.
However, the average sales price per kilogram of Atlantic salmon increased 3.9 percent to NOK 22.08 (USD 3.65, EUR 2.57) in 2008, while the average sales price per kilogram of rainbow trout jumped 7.8 percent to NOK 20.07 (USD 3.32, EUR 2.33) last year.
The figures the Directorate of Fisheries released yesterday are preliminary; the final figures will be posted on the agency’s Web site in early November.
