Lerøy expecting lower Q3 harvest

Lerøy Seafood slaughtered 2,300 tonnes less salmon during the third quarter this year, a trading update from the company reveals.

The June to September harvest totalled 53,900 tonnes against 56,200 tonnes during the same period last year.

The figures are for Norway only and do not include production from Scottish Sea Farms, in which it owns a half share. The SSF contribution will become known when the full third quarter results are published next month.

The Norway breakdown is as follows: Lerøy Aurora 16,500 tonnes, Lerøy Mid 22,400 tonnes and Lerøy Sjøtroll 14,900 tonnes of which 7,100 tonnes was trout.

The company has been hit with a couple of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) issues during the period, but it is not yet known how much they have affected production.

So far this year, Lerøy has slaughtered 112,200 tonnes, down from 121,300 tonnes in 2022.

The catch volume for wild fish during the period was 14,400 tonnes of which 3,500 tonnes was cod, 600 tonnes less than last year. However, the fishing fleet has had to adjust to lower Barents Sea cod quotas this year.

Lerøy is investing around NOK 158m (£12m) at its factory in Kjøllefjord in the north of Norway.

The company has described it as a significant investment which will mean secure year round jobs at the plant as well as benefiting the local community.

Work on the site starts next year and will mainly involve processing shellfish such as crab and whitefish, the company said.