MOWI looks set to close the former Wester Ross processing facility at Dingwall, local reports have said.

Around 15 people will be affected but they will be offered jobs at other facilities within the company.

The Ross-shire Journal report said Mowi has entered a consultation period with the staff with a proposal to permanently close the site, formerly known as Wester Ross Fisheries.

The company has said all staff will be offered similar or other employment with Mowi throughout the company’s value chain that includes fish processing plants, salmon hatcheries, ocean farms, and a feed mill. Processing would be moved to other Mowi sites in Scotland.

Mowi Scotland bought a controlling stake in Wester Ross Fisheries over a year ago which at the time was one of the last independently owned salmon farming businesses in Scotland.

The company specialised in premium products and had a policy prohibiting the use of antibiotics.

In February Mowi globally indicated that it wanted to reduce the size of its workforce by around 12%, while stressing that there would be no compulsory redundancies. The aim is to save around £20 million.

The plan also involves streamlining the business through introducing more automation and renegotiating contracts with suppliers.

During the summer it announced closure of the a secondary processing operation in Donegal, Ireland where 33 people were employed.

The company is expecting to be hit by higher tax bills in Norway, the Faroe Islands and, probably, Iceland but it is not known if this has played a part in the Scottish or Irish closure announcements.

The post Mowi to close Dingwall processing site appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

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.

The post Lerøy expecting lower Q3 harvest appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

Two of the UK’s principal scampi producers have been given five working days to show that their planned merger will not lead to higher prices.

The Yorkshire coast company Whitby Seafood and Kilhorne Bay Seafoods of County Down, Northern Ireland want to come together.

But the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)  has stepped, in expressing concerns that the plan could lead could potentially be price-related, anti-competitive and lead to lower quality products.

It says: “Whitby Seafoods is currently the largest UK supplier of breaded scampi to foodservice customers (such as pubs, restaurants, and fish and chip shops) by some distance, holding a market share close to 90%.

“Kilhorne Bay Seafoods, while significantly smaller than Whitby Seafoods, is the second largest supplier.”

Whitby Seafoods agreed to buy Kilhorne Bay Seafoods in May this year  and voluntarily notified the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority which launched a merger review into the deal in early August.

An initial Phase 1 investigation conducted by the CMA has found that Whitby Seafoods already holds a very strong market position in the supply of breaded scampi to foodservice customers.

Following the deal, Whitby Seafoods would face even less competition from other scampi suppliers. The CMA’s investigation also found that Whitby Seafoods faces limited competition from potential market entrants and suppliers of other types of breaded seafood.

It says: “The loss of competition brought about by the deal could result in foodservice customers having to pay higher prices – which could ultimately lead to higher prices for customers in venues such as pubs, restaurants, and fish and chip shops – as well as reduced product quality.

The CMA said it will refer the deal for an in-depth Phase 2  merger investigation unless Whitby and Kilhorne Bay offer remedies which fully resolve these concerns. They now have five working days to submit proposals.

Colin Raftery, Senior Director of Mergers at the CMA, said: “Scampi is a popular choice when eating out in the UK, with over 20 million servings sold to restaurant, café, and pub goers every year.

“These venues are already facing significant cost pressures, and it’s critical that we don’t allow a loss of competition to make things worse.”

He added: “Kilhorne Bay is a relatively small player, but Whitby Seafoods already faces only very limited competition when competing for foodservice customers – so the deal would leave customers facing the risk of higher prices and lower quality products.”

The post Competition watchdog concern over UK scampi merger appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

Norwegian industry organisation Seafood Companies is urging the government to remove the employer tax on the seafood industry so more salmon and other fish can be processed at home.

Much of Norway’s salmon, for example, is processed hundreds of miles away in Poland and Denmark.

Robert H. Eriksson, managing director of Seafood Companies (“Sjomatbedriftene” in Norwegian) says that the number of companies within the seafood industry has fallen from 688 in 1995 to around 350 today. He is hoping for some response when the national budget is presented later today.

Seafood Companies already points out that many salmon producers will now be paying a salmon tax of 25% on top of corporation tax of 22%.

The additional employer tax is effectively a production fee on each kilogram of salmon they process, plus an additional payment if they want to increase output.

He further says that 33% of fish for export was processed at home in 2010, but that figure had now fallen to 28%.

Eriksson argued: “The various governments have, in celebratory speech after celebratory speech, advocated that more value be created from seafood in Norway, and that this should take place, among other things, in the form of increased processing here at home.

“But the truth is that it gets worse and worse with each passing year, and more and more of the fish we export goes to the market unprocessed.”

“Seafood Companies believe that clear steps must be taken, and want the government to be able to show political action in connection with the state budget for next year.”

He said Norway is and will remain a high-cost country: “Costs related to labour are perhaps the largest single component that contributes to the fact that many industrial companies struggle with very low profitability.

“Competitiveness must increase, and one important measure would be to remove employer’s tax for the seafood industry. Therefore, this is a clear wish from us to the government.”

Eriksson further points out that the government, in its last budget, made the situation even more difficult for the business community by introducing a temporary additional employer’s tax.

He concluded: “Our clear demand is that this additional taxation to employ people be abolished in next year’s state budget. This is nothing more than a special Norwegian penalty tax for hiring people, which is completely unreasonable.”

The post Seafood industry in call to scrap “employer tax” appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

Despite a big drop in profits last year, the Scottish company Thistle Seafoods has issued an upbeat assessment on future prospects for the business.

Profits were down by 90% from £3.3m in 2021 to £303,000 during the year, largely due to higher raw material costs and external factors.

Thistle bought the Dawnfresh factory at Uddingston near Glasgow last year after the company was placed in administration.

Trout producer Dawnfresh Farming, which continued to trade profitably, was sold to Mowi for an undisclosed figure earlier this year.

Thistle reported higher sales of £115.6m against just over £105m a year earlier. But the cost of sales (mainly fish) rose by around £12m to £100,890,000.

The company’s strategic report said 2022 presented significant challenges which included a direct impact from the war in Ukraine which led to wide ranging sanctions against Russia, a major raw material supplier to the UK.

This was compounded by “extreme energy price inflation” at home along with other inflationary effects labour and tight supply issues.

The report continues: “In spite of all this, the company reported growth in turnover and it remains profitable which is highly commendable, given the significant external headwinds the company faced in 2022. The turnover increased to £115m which is a record for the company.

“We would like to recognise the support from our key customers in helping us to navigate the most challenging of years.”

The year also saw the opportunity to significantly expand its manufacturing and distribution footprint with the addition of the Dawnfresh site at Uddingston.

This increased space, said Thistle, would allow it to offer new opportunities as they arise and it looked forward with a great deal of optimism as inflationary pressures start to ease.

Thistle Seafoods’ former Dawnfresh plant, Uddingston

The post Thistle Seafoods optimistic despite profit slump appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

Salmon giant Mowi has closed a processing unit at its Irish headquarters in Donegal, with the loss of 33 jobs.

The redundancy programme, which was announced with a consultation programme in May this year, affects the secondary processing unit at the facility. Mowi has now ceased secondary processing in Ireland, with fillets and portions now being dealt with in other locations, but primary processing continues.

Mowi told Fish Farmer: “The closure of this unit will allow customers to purchase fillets and portions from our Mowi secondary plants in Europe, which are closer to major markets. This decision will only impact customers who currently purchase fillets or portions (fresh or frozen) and will not impact those customers who purchase HOG [head one gutted] fresh Irish Organic salmon, as the primary processing section of the plant will remain operational. The closure has no impact on our Irish Organic freshwater or marine operations which continue to produce at full capacity.”

The Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB) has been on-site at Mowi’s Irish headquarters in Fanad in recent weeks to provide training and career advice to staff impacted by the redundancy announcement.

Redundancy takes effect as of today. Redeployment options had been offered to staff who worked in secondary production, to other aspects of operations within the company’s Donegal headquarters.

Mowi stated: “Mowi Ireland intends to grow other aspects of its operations in Ireland later in the year and the overall business outlook remains positive and healthy.

“Mowi Ireland would like to put on record its gratitude to all its staff for their exemplary commitment to the company and intends to provide every support possible through the entire process.”

The post Mowi Ireland closes secondary processing unit appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Editors

A new salmon processing factory has opened in Bergen, Norway to meet growing export demand.

The company behind the project is First Seafood, which is part of the larger Insula group and, until recently, had been used by that group to produce fish cakes. Insula’s parent company is Kverva, the investment vehicle set up by SalMar Chairman Gustav Witzoe.

First Seafood managing director Andreas Sundnes said: “We see a significant increase in demand in the export market for salmon fillet products and this factory will form part of an already established structure in First Seafood for the purchase, production and sale of salmon products.

“Together with our existing factory in Kongsvinger (near Oslo), the new factory in Bergen will give us a capacity of up to 30,000 tonnes of salmon products a year.”

First Seafood AS, which produces a wide range of products for customers all over the world, has signed a 25 year lease on the premises and says it is there for the long term.

The choice to establish production in Bergen is also based on good access to seafood expertise in the region, as well as great access to raw material from a number of players with farming in Western Norway.

First Seafood said that with the new factory it will become a significant player in processed salmon products in the world market and will strengthen its sales and operations organisation to be able to serve markets in Asia, Europe and the USA.

The new factory announcement also said First Seafood and the food processing company BAADER have developed and adopted ground-breaking technology at Kongsvinger.

Modulf Barstad, BAADER Norway’s sales manager, said: “This has happened in close co-operation between skilled seafood people at First Seafood and a leading technical development environment at BAADER.”

Former PM Erna Solberg at First Seafood’s Oslo plant

The post New salmon processing plant opens in Bergen appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

There has been a change at the top at two leading seafood businesses – the smolt breeder Biofish and leading processor Iceland Seafood International (ISI) .

Torbjørn Skulstad has decided to step down as CEO of BioFish while, after five years in charge Bjarni Ármannsson is leaving the top role at ISI.

The new Biofish CEO is Sondre Hagerup Johnsrud (pictured) who takes over on 1 October.

Current CEO Skulstad said that he decided to go following the planned completion of the RAS facility at Ljones this month.

Sondre Hagerup Johnsrud has extensive experience from operational, strategic and management positions in leading aquaculture companies such as Bjørøya AS and Midt-Norsk Havbruk AS.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Trondheim Økonomiske Høyskole.

The Biofish board said that they wanted to thank Skulstad for his contribution as CEO, emphasising that he will remain as a board member of BioFish Holding AS.

Johnsrud said: “It’s a huge vote of confidence to be the leader of such a strong and experienced team. I look forward to continuing to develop the company further by making more production capacity operational and producing high performing and robust post-smolt.

He added: “Producing post-smolt with a high quality can solve several of the industry’s largest challenges in a sustainable way.”

Ægir Páll Friðbertsson, incoming CEO, Iceland Seafood International

Meanwhile, the new CEO at Iceland Seafood International is Ægir Páll Friðbertsson. He has been Chief Operating Officer at the fishing company Brim hf. for the last five years and has worked in the seafood industry for most of his professional career.

He holds a business degree from the University of Iceland and a master degree in finance.

Bjarni Ármannsson said: “I’m very grateful for the opportunity to lead Iceland Seafood for the last almost five years. It’s been a time of learning for me and characterized by volatile externalities that have at times been challenging. I would like to thank the people I’ve worked with and the board of Directors in particular for its continued support.

He added: “The Iceland Seafood group is a strong entity with a very good potential for profitability and growth going forward.

“Its unique position in delivering quality seafood to its customers, particularly in Europe is something that has been developed for a very long time and remains with many good opportunities.”

Bjarni Ármannsson

The post All change at top for Biofish and Iceland Seafood appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh

Samherji, Iceland’s largest combined fishing, aquaculture and seafood business, has reported a solid increase in operating profits for last year.

The operating profit came to ISK 9.9 billion (almost £60m), an increase of ISK 800m (£4.8m) on 2021. Sales remained relatively unchanged from the previous year at ISK 54 billion (£320m).

Officially known as the Samherja.hf group, the company reported that profit after tax was ISK 14.3bn (£84m), slightly down on the previous year.

CEO Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson said some aspects last year were better than those in 2021, but others were not.

Part of this was due to balance sheet changes that took place after the subsidiary Kaldbaks ehf  finally became independent of the main company last year.

Samherji owns Iceland’s largest trawler fishing fleet, but in January it sold its overseas operations in North America and Europe (including the UK) to the CEO’s son Baldvin Thorsteinsson.

During the year, Samherji processed 35,000 tonnes of fish of all types in its two Iceland plants.

Samherji has embarked on a large-scale expansion of its salmon farming business. Its aquaculture subsidiary, Samherji fiskeldi ehf plans to build a 40,000 ton land facility at Reykjanesvirkjun in south-west Iceland , in three phases over the next eleven years.

The total investment will be over ISK 50 billion (£295m), but the Samherji board has decided to contribute significant amount of capital to the first phase of the project.

Because of this, the company’s share capital will be increased by up to ISK 7.5 billion (£44m).A capital contribution of ISK 3.5 billion (£20m) has already been made.

Meanwhile, Samherji said it is simplifying its fishing and processing operations by combining those businesses.

The post Steady as she goes for Samherji appeared first on Fish Farmer Magazine. By Vince McDonagh