Bakkafrost Group’s harvest in the first quarter of 2021 increased year-on-year, thanks to harvest increases in its native Faroe Islands.
The volume of salmon harvested by Bakkafrost in the Faroe Islands in the first-quarter increased by 3,300 metric tons (MT) year-on-year, to the equivalent of 14,000 MT head-on gutted (HOG) fish, according to the producer’s latest trading update.
Broken down into production regions, the contribution from the company’s operations in the north of the Faroes amounted to 11,400 MT, up from 6,300 MT in Q1 2020; while its farms in the west supplied 2,500 MT, a decrease from 2,800 MT; and its southern farms provided 100 MT, down from 1,600 MT.
Meanwhile, its Scottish operations achieved a harvest of 7,000 MT, down from 7,300 MT in Q1 2020.
The group’s feed sales for the first-quarter 2021 totaled 23,800 MT, up from 19,100 MT a year previously.
Its full Q1 2021 report will be released on 11 May, 2021.
In 2020, Bakkafrost harvested 85,686 MT of salmon, up from 65,109 MT in 2019; with 50,700 MT of that total from the Faroes and 34,986 MT from Scotland.
It has forecast a 2021 harvest of 106,000 MT gutted weight, with 66,000 MT coming from the Faroe Islands and 40,000 MT from Scotland. It also expects to release around 14.5 million smolts in the Faroes this year, compared to 14.3 million smolts in 2020, 12.7 million smolts in 2019, and 12.6 million smolts in 2018.
The 2021 smolt release in Scotland is expected to be 11 million, compared to 10.4 million smolts in 2020, 12.4 million smolts in 2019, and 8.6 million smolts in 2018.
For the full-year 2020, the Atlantic salmon producer achieved a operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of DKK 621.2 million (USD 98.6 million, EUR 83.5 million), down from DKK 1.3 billion (USD 206.3 million, EUR 174.8 million) in 2019. Annual profit fell from DKK 801.9 million (USD 127.3 million, EUR 107.8 million) to DKK 462.8 million (USD 73.5 million, EUR 62.2 million).
Photo courtesy of Bakkafrost
