Public meeting thumbs up for Samherji’s huge salmon farm

Icelandic seafood group Samherji is to press ahead with plans for a giant salmon farm in the south west of the country after receiving broad approval from local residents.

At a recent public meeting the company outlined its plans for the £260m, 40,000 tonne land-based facility, near Reykjanes.

Local residents were invited to the public meeting so the company could obtain as many views as possible.

The project will create more than 100 permanent jobs plus hundreds more during the construction stage and inject billions of kroner into the area, Samherji said.

The facility will include a hatchery, a rearing centre and a processing house together with support and technical buildings.

The environmental assessment report on the planned structure and activities has now been published on a local planning agency website.

Jón Kjartan Jónsson, manager of Samherji Fish Farm, said: “The presentation went very well. There was a very good turnout and everyone we spoke to was very happy.  We found nothing but great satisfaction and great anticipation for a large workplace with a lot of activity around it.”

He said the public meeting showed a lot of interest in the facility.

The aim is to start breaking ground around the proposed site, which will cover thousands of square metres, at the end of this summer or in early autumn. Construction of the next phase will begin in 2027 and the third phase in 2030.

The local mayor Kjartan Már Kjartansson, said he was pleased a satisfactory environmental report had been published, adding that the project was not only large by local standards, but by global standards.

Jón Kjartan Jónsson, Manager, Samherji Fish Farm