Halibut farmer Amar Seafood gets green light for new site in Norway
The company, which owns Scottish halibut expert Otter Ferry Seafish, has been granted conditional approval by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
Amar Seafood, which owns Scottish halibut ova and juveniles producer Otter Ferry Seafish, has been granted conditional approval by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) to establish a marine site in Hitra municipality in Trøndelag, central Norway.
The Helsøya II site is planned for the production of Atlantic halibut with a maximum allowed biomass (MTB) of 3,900 tonnes.
Amar Seafood already holds holds three licences for halibut sea pen production in the area, which together allow for a maximum production capacity of 2,340 tonnes.
In its assessment of the Helsøya II site, Mattilsynet concludes that it can meet requirements for fish health and biosecurity, and that the planned operation provides a good foundation for ensuring the species’ welfare and living conditions.
A strong location
“This is an exciting step for us. Helsøya II is a strong location with the right conditions for halibut farming, and we’re really looking forward to continuing the development of the site. It’s great to see the work we’ve put into this project reflected in the assessment,” said Anders Sæther of Amar Seafood in a post on the company’s website.
Some of the eggs and juvenile (5 gram) halibut for Amar’s farms will come from Otter Ferry Seafish, which maintains a broodstock population and is ramping up production to meet Amar’s needs in Norway and in Canada, where the company also grows halibut.
Otter Ferry Seafish / Amar Seafood is also trialling the farming of halibut in Loch Melfort, Scotland. Around 45,000 halibut with an average weight of 1.2 kilos were stocked at a site operated by rainbow trout farmer Kames in February, and will be farmed by that copany on a contract basis.
Read an in-depth article about the project in the latest online edition of Fish Farming Expert magazine.
