New salmon egg site opens

A NEW salmon egg facility in Norway will help supply the global market with biosecure eggs all year round.
The £40 million plant, based in Salten and owned by Benchmark Holdings, is a land based unit and the most modern salmon egg production site in the world, said the company.
The new facility will increase Benchmark’s capacity by 75 per cent. The company currently outsources part of its production to meet growing demand, but the Salten development will enable it to bring production in-house.
Sales of fertilised eggs will start in November and additional fish will be brought into the facility to ramp up volumes throughout 2019.
As anticipated, initial sales will benefit the 2019 financial year, with full production capacity expected by 2021.
Salten is located in northern Norway where the salmon production base is growing fast. The new facility will allow Benchmark to serve this growing region, as well as the rest of Norway and international markets.
Malcolm Pye, CEO of Benchmark, said: ‘The opening of our new facility in Salten on time is a very important milestone for Benchmark, which will allow us to capitalise on our leading market position in salmon genetics and the favourable long term market trends in the industry.
‘We expect it to contribute additional revenues at higher margins going forward.’
Picture: Benchmark CEO Malcolm Pye