Aker ASA has announced a NOK 155 million (USD 15.6 million, EUR 14.6 million) investment in Gaia Salmon Holding – a Træna, Norway-based company planning to build a post-smolt salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS).
The investment will give Aker control a 25.3 percent stake in Gaia Salmon, and Aker has also acquired the right to increase its ownership stake. Gaia Salmon is planning to construct a 7,200-metric-ton (MT) post-smolt RAS on a 90-acre site in Træna, which is located just below the Arctic Circle on the country’s west coast.
The investment is a part of Aker’s wider investments in salmon production, it said in a press release. Aker has invested in offshore salmon farming through SalMar Aker Ocean – a joint company launched in 2021 between SalMar ASA aand Aker ASA – with plans to create a new global offshore aquaculture company.
SalMar Aker Ocean (SAO), the company said, has signed a non-binding agreement with Gaia salmon for the delivery of post-smolt salmon to the offshore operations.
“The strategic cooperation will improve SAO’s access to post-smolt, which is an enabler for scaling offshore farming operations,” Aker said in a release.
Gaia Salmon told SeafoodSource in 2021 that it originally planned to begin construction on its facility in early 2022, with plans to eventually scale up its 7,200 MT facility to 12,000 MT. While that did not happen, the company announced in November 2022 that the construction plot for the future facility has been completed in collaboration with the Træna municipality.
Other prominent investors in Gaia Salmon include Norwegian property magnate Olav Thon, who has taken a 10 percent share, and Rando Landbasert, a private group that holds a 45 percent stake.
Image courtesy of Gaia Salmon Holding
