Go ahead for Europe's largest salmon land farm

PLANS to build what will eventually be Europe’s largest land based salmon farm have received local authority approval.
The company, Salmon Evolution AS, was given the go ahead to develop a facility that is hoped will produce more than 28,000 tonnes of salmon a year.
The development site is at a place called Indre Harøy in Fræna, part of an attractive county municipality in western Norway known as Møre og Romsdal.
When fully up and running, the plant will provide more than 80 jobs. A number of former salmon company executives are behind the three billion kroner project.
They say they still have to secure the necessary funding, but claim there is a lot of interest in the project and they are currently working on plans to attract new investors. An investment prospectus should be in print by September.
The CEO of Salmon Evolution, Ingjarl Skarvøy, said he was pleased the company has obtained the concessions to go ahead.
He believes the development of land based farming will eventually become a major game changer for the Norwegian aquaculture industry. He expects the project to gather pace gradually over time.
Currently, Europe’s largest land based farm is under construction 40 miles south of Oslo, with Fredrikstad Seafoods, a subsidiary of Nordic Aquafarms, behind the development.
But that will produce just 6,200 tonnes a year and its crown as the ‘largest’ is likely to be short lived if this new project can attract the necessary investment.
Salmon Evolution said in a press release that its plant will have a maximum standing biomass of 13,300 tonnes, and annual output of 28,800 tonnes of salmon.
‘This corresponds to the production of 100 million salmon meals a year.’
Picture: CEO of Salmon Evolution, Ingjarl Skarvøy