Norwegian seafood exports hit August record

Fresh raw salmon fillets on Ice

Seafood exports from Norway achieved the highest August result yet last month, totalling NOK 12.6bn – or just over £1bn in sterling terms.
Despite lower prices, once again salmon was at the forefront, with overseas sales totalling NOK 10.8bn or £770m.

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Farmed cod may be reclassified as ‘white salmon’, says company

white fish fillet on a plate

Norwegian farmed cod may be repositioned as “white salmon” if a new marketing experiment takes off.

Norcod, one of the country’s largest producers, says there has been a gradual increase in average sales prices with a few fluctuations along the way.

The company said: “Commercially, Norcod has stepped up its efforts to develop the market and position our product in a premium niche category, with corresponding sales prices and contracts. This is our main task at hand going forward. 

“To position our farmed at a more premium position than the wild-caught cod market level, we have launched the Snow Cod product brand in selected markets. 

“We are now working with the Norwegian Seafood Council and industry players to leverage this brand position and develop a premium, differentiated brand worldwide.” 

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Breakthrough tech turns fish waste to ‘fillets’

pack of fish meat

A Finnish food tech company has developed a process to turn fish processing sidestreams into a high quality fillet-like consumer product.

Hailia Nordic’s “Nyhtökirjolohi” (rainbow trout) is based on trout sidestreams, but the company says the concept could be applied to other finfish.

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Woman convicted of salmon smuggling ‘seriously ill’ in Chinese jail

A steel mesh against the background of a blue sky and a flagpole with the flag of china

A woman who had business links with salmon producer SalMar is reported to be seriously ill with paralysis and other major problems in a Chinese jail, where she is serving a sentence for smuggling seafood.

Her family fear that she could die in prison unless she receives proper treatment.

In 2022 Yimin Dong, a former Chinese national who is now a Norwegian citizen, was sentenced to 14 years, later reduced to 13 years, after being convicted of smuggling salmon into China through Vietnam, at a time when China had barred fish imports from Norway.

SalMar has always insisted she was acting privately and was never directly employed by the company.

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Researchers chart salmon reaction to hydrogen sulphide

A study has revealed how Atlantic salmon in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) deploy natural defences against low levels of hydrogen sulphide.
The findings could help fish farmers to detect underlying problems with hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in RAS facilities.

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Mowi threatened with heavy fines over lice numbers

Mowi has become the latest large Norwegian salmon company to face the possibility of a large daily fine over high lice numbers.

Last week it was revealed that SalMar had been threatened with a penalty of more than half a million kroner a day (around £40,000 a day) over the issue.

Now the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has told Mowi it could incur a penalty of just over NOK 465,000 a day (around £33,000).

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High salmon prices hit Icelandic supplier’s sales

Seafood supplier Iceland Seafood International (ISI) has reported a positive turnaround during the first six months of this year, but high salmon prices early on in the period have continued to affect sales.

The group, which sold its Grimsby operation more than a year ago, reported revenues totalling €98.2m (£82m) which were only marginally down on the previous period in 2023.

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