Averøy, Nordmøre, Norway-based Nordic Halibut AS produced 135.3 metric tons (MT) of its head-on gutted (HOG) farmed-raised Atlantic halibut in the third quarter of 2021, and achieved sales of NOK 16.1 million (USD 1.9 million, EUR 1.6 million), 121 percent more than in the corresponding period of 2020.
Nordic Halibut’s Q3 2021 was its best sales period in its history, despite the third quarter historically seeing limited demand. The company’s profit after tax reached almost NOK 10.5 million (USD 1.2 million, EUR 1.1 million), an improvement on the previous two quarters of this year. Its average harvest weight of its fish in Q3 was 6.2 kilograms.
Nordic Halibut increased its harvest guidance for the full-year 2021 by 27 percent, or 115 MT, to 540 MT, thanks to a “strong biological performance” in the grow-out phase of production and rising market demand, it said.
Also in the quarter, Nordic Halibut signed an agreement with landowners securing the location of its new land-based facility, to be built at Tingvoll, Møre and Romsdal, Norway. Nordic Halibut has thus far secured 4,500 MT farming capacity by 2026, both at sea and on land.
Looking to increase that total, the company recently began construction of a third grow-out site at Grønset. The site will consist of a dozen 160-meter cages and will have a stand-alone biomass capacity of 3,000 MT. The company expects its first fish to be put into the cages during Q4 2021.
Also, its on-growing facility at Averøy is receiving a NOK 17 million (USD 2 million, EUR 1.7 million) upgrade to improve water quality, temperature control, and increased capacity for medium-size, 50- to 100-gram juveniles. Construction at the site will be completed in Q1 2022.
Photo courtesy of Nordic Halibut
