Prices boost for halibut farmer

The company was able to achieve sales prices as high as NOK 183 per kg (£13.03) during the October to December period.

Nordic Halibut, now also known as NOHAL, said increased sales prices had been achieved across all size categories compared to a year ago.

In addition the price increase was supported by higher average harvest weight in the run up to the year end over the same quarter in 2023.

NOHAL said that it achieved an average sales price of 167 NOK per kg (£11.89) throughout the entire year for this popular prime white fish.

Sales revenue for Q4 totalled amounted to NOK 31 million (£2.2m) , with harvest volumes reaching 171 tonnes head on gutted.

The full year sales revenue and harvest figure amounted to NOK 90 million (£6.3m) and 539 tonnes HOG (head on, gutted) respectively.

NOHAL said the average harvest weight of 6.3 kg HOG for the quarter reflects the company’s commitment to increasing harvest weights, but this may continue to show variation from quarter to quarter going forward.

It also said the biomass was performing well, demonstrated by a 13% growth during the quarter, net of harvest compared to Q3 2024. Including the harvested amount this represents total production at sea of 21% of biomass during the quarter.

As previously stated in the Q3 2024 interim report, for 2024 one of three production batches for release of fish to sea was delayed, leaving only two batches for the full year.

This contributed to the number of fish released to sea being lower than expected at 500 thousand individuals compared to the release target of one million individuals.

For 2025, this is expected to result in a catch-up effect, which together with the addition of the Tjeldbergodden facility, where the company has a new lease for fish farming, lays the foundation for the release target of 1.2 million individuals for 2025, NOHAL added.