Land-based salmon-farming company Andfjord Salmon Group said it is on track to initiate its second-ever salmon smolt release at its Kvalnes, Norway-based site.
The company put production at its land-based flow-through aquaculture facility on hold in 2024 as it worked to expand the salmon-farming site, which under its existing license will have a total expected production output of 23,700 metric tons (MT) of head-on gutted salmon. The company said its primary focus during H1 2025 has been developing the facility, and consequently, the company harvested no salmon and posted nearly no revenue in the period.
Andfjord salmon posted just NOK 927,000 (USD 92,800, EUR 78,900) in revenue in H1 2025, largely related to the sale of frozen salmon from the company’s first production cycle. As a result of a lack of revenue and higher costs due to increased material expenses and other operating costs, the company posted an operating loss of NOK 47.5 million (USD 4.7 million, EUR 4 million) in H1 2025, compared to a loss of NOK 36.2 million (USD 3.6 million, EUR 3.1 million) in H1 2024.
“During the first half year of 2025, Andfjord Salmon carried out significant investments in property, plant, and equipment related to the ongoing expansion at Kvalnes,” the company said in its interim H1 2025 results report.
The company said that it is rapidly approaching the point where its construction will be far enough along that it can begin releasing salmon smolt into its systems again. Andfjord Salmon said it will release a total of 1.1 million salmon smolt this autumn in two different pools at the company and begin the process of farming salmon again.
"Our team of fish-farming experts are thoroughly looking forward to once again focusing on fish health and welfare and optimizing pool and grow-out conditions for the salmon,” Andfjord Salmon CEO Martin Rasmussen said. “We believe that we have an even better fish-farming concept now than we had two years ago, and we look forward to demonstrating it.”
The smolt release will be done in two batches. The first will see 350,000 smolt released into pool “K0” in September, and the second will see 750,000 smolt released into pool “K1” in October.
"Our planned release of 1.1 million smolt represents a significant scale-up of commercial operations for Andfjord Salmon,” Rasmussen said. “This is what we have worked tirelessly toward for the past two years, with strong support from our shareholders."
Andfjord said that in February 2025, the company identified some design improvements that would enable it to increase its salmon production capacity by 20 percent. Those improvements included pool utilization – which includes the implementation of more efficient fish logistics and reinforced concrete walls to enhance water flow. The new logistics system will be used to move smolt in the “K1” pool into two units as the total biomass increases to enhance efficiency.
The company said as a result of its improvements, Phase 1 – which it is currently working on – will increase production capacity from 8,000 MT of salmon to 11,000 MT. The company also said it is aiming to achieve a gradual increase in production capacity and reach a total production of 48,100 MT of salmon between 2025 and 2030.
Andfjord said its initial Phase 1 buildout is nearing completion, and in May 2025, the company successfully completed its outlet waterway tunnel at the Kvalnes site. Then, in early July, the company also completed the inlet waterway, which gives the facility the water source it needs.
“The entry point of the 1-kilometer-long inlet tunnel is located at approximately 50 meters water depth – below the zone where salmon lice and harmful algae typically reside,” Andfjord Salmon wrote. “In combination with Andfjord Salmon’s proprietary flow-thorough system, the inlet waterway is a key component in recreating a natural and healthy salmon-farming habitat on land.”
The company said work on its harbor area is also on schedule and is ready to receive wellboats with smolt for the upcoming release.
To finance the ongoing work, the company raised NOK 1.55 billion (USD 155 million, EUR 132 million) in funds during Q2 2025, which included a NOK 400 million (USD 40 million, EUR 34 million) private placement, a NOK 750 million (USD 75 million, EUR 63 million) bond issuance, and a NOK 400 million sale-leaseback agreement related to its Kvalnes harbor property.
