Trondheim, Norway-based cod aquaculture company Norcod AS harvested 1,390 metric tons (MT) of fish in 2021, achieving NOK 72 million (USD 8 million, EUR 7.1 million) in revenue, with its volume representing more than 85 percent of the total amount of market-size farmed cod produced by the country last year.
More than 3,500 MT of whole-fish equivalent (WFE) cod from Norcod’s first commercial production cycle will be harvested during the first four months of 2022, the company said.
“[The] next generation of cod is delivering strong biological performance, surpassing the growth rate of current cycle for the same period at sea, which is already averaging biological FCR of 1.026 on harvested biomass,” Norcod COO Rune Eriksen said in a press release.
The 2021 batch comprises 2.2 million fish.
Norcod has also added two feed barges, rigged for waterborne feeding, which Norcod Chief Sustainability Officer Hilde Storhaug said will strengthen its sustainability profile and help reduce its climate footprint. The company also reached a new supply agreement with a major Spanish supermarket chain last month for the delivery of 850 MT of cod with a fixed gross delivery price of NOK 60 (USD 6.64, EUR 5.94) per kilogram.
“It’s an exceptional agreement, confirming the company’s strategy to enter into fixed price contracts, and even more so in that it will occur during the wild cod season,” Norcod CEO Christian Riber said. “It signals that Norcod is achieving the goal to clearly differentiate farmed cod from wild-caught, during the high-season, by delivering consistent high-quality product.”
Norcod is listed on Oslo’s Euronext Growth market. Its existing fish farms are located in mid-Norway.
The company, which had originally forecast production of 9,000 metric tons by 2021, increasing to a year-round supply of 25,000 tons by 2025, recently made the decision to extend its in-sea growth phase to deliver an average of 4-kilogram fresh cod to the market, and has increased its expected harvested volume for 2025 by 10 percent to 27,500 MT.
Photo courtesy of Norcod
