Phenomenal growth for Landcatch smolts in Norway
Delivered to Lingalaks during late March and early April last year as 96-gram smolts, the first 30% of the stock were harvested in early June this year at an average weight of 5 kilos in an area which has been prone to poor growth rates and significant pancreas disease (PD) problems in recent years. .
"These would be really impressive performance figures for just about any production site in the world," said Chris Mitchell, sales manager for Landcatch. "To have achieved them in Hardanger Fjord, with its challenging PD history, is truly remarkable. We're delighted therefore with the way in which these fish have performed during their brief 13-14 months at Saltkjelen.
Lingalaks owner, Rolv Haugarvoll, is equally enthusiastic about the performance of the stock. "We're very satisfied indeed with the rate of growth and the very low mortality rates. We'll need until the start of August to complete our Landcatch harvest, so there's still some extra growth to be achieved."
The Lingalaks smolt delivery, which totalled 300,000 fish, was one of several smolt and egg market expansion successes for Landcatch in 2007. Dominated by sales throughout Scotland and Chile, the company has also supplied customers in Russia, Ireland, France, Shetland, Faroes, Denmark and latterly, South Africa.
"Every time we place eggs or smolts into a new environment we inevitably gain valuable experience of stock performance under a fresh range of conditions," said Mr Mitchell. "We're constantly seeking to improve stock performance across all production environments, of course. To have achieved such amazing growth results in Norway this year is therefore a major plus for our breeding programme."
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Additional notes for editors Landcatch Ltd was founded by the Scottish-based family-run Lithgows' business 28 years ago at Ormsary Estate, Argyll, initially for operation as a land-based salmon production unit. The company made its first major investment in advanced breeding technology for stock improvement in 1996 to concentrate on the specialist production of eggs and salmon smolts. All breeding activities today are controlled by Landcatch Natural Selection, the only specialist aquaculture breeding company with its own production facilities in both the northern and southern hemispheres. LNS controls all breeding advances for Landcatch Ltd in Scotland and for Landcatch Chile, owning and providing the breeding technology which differentiates the Landcatch stock globally. Current production by Landcatch Scotland and Landcatch Chile totals 65 million salmon eggs in Scotland and 45 million eggs in Chile. By 2010, Landcatch Scotland and Landcatch Chile expect to have a 20% share of the world salmon egg market. Landcatch Scotland also produces 5 million smolts plus parr while Landcatch Chile produces 3.5 million smolts.
