Arnarlax estimates that it lost around 500 metric tons (MT) of salmon to a strong storm that hit Iceland’s west coast this month, with operations ongoing to both remove dead fish and to harvest those fish in cages that have been weakened by the extreme weather.
Bíldudalur, Iceland-headquartered Arnarlax, the country’s largest salmon farmer, anticipates the total fish mortality is likely to creep upwards in the coming days.
Through an action plan implemented to deal with the event, Arnarlax has secured the use of a number of additional vessels. As well as using purse-seining vessel Sighavatur Bjarnason to pump dead fish from the company’s cages in Arnafjordur, slaughter vessel Norwegian Gannet has been deployed to temporarily increase the production capacity at its plant in Bíldudalur.
Arnarlax confirmed that it also has the support of key suppliers Driving & Diving, Tempru, Samskipa, Sæferða, Smyrilline, and other service providers in the area.
According to the SalMar subsidiary, the production plans for other farming areas remain unchanged, and the total harvest from Arnarlax and Arctic Fish, which will be processed at Bíldudalur, is expected to be around 18,000 MT this year, compared to 13,000 MT last year.
Arnarlax was incorporated in 2009 and had its first harvest in 2016. It was registered on the Norwegian OTC list in November last year.
The company has licenses equal to approximately 25,200 MT maximum allowed biomass (MAB), and pending applications for 14,500 MT more.
In 2018, its operating income totaled NOK 400.4 million (USD 43.2 million, EUR 39.9 million), its operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was a loss of NOK 78.9 million (USD 8.5 million, EUR 7.9 million), and its net profit was a loss of NOK 29.3 million (USD 3.2 million, EUR 2.9 million). The 2018 harvest totaled 6,700 MT, down from 9,700 MT in 2017.
The company’s results for 2019 are due to be published later this month.
Photo courtesy of Arnarlax
