Otter Ferry owner Amar Seafood wins licences for halibut farm in Norway
Amar Seafood, which recently bought Scottish halibut, lumpfish, and ballan wrasse producer Otter Ferry Seafish, has been granted licences to farm Atlantic salmon in Frøya, Trøndelag, Norway.
In a post on LinkedIn, the company said the site on Krutøya is a historic aquaculture location, now being repurposed for halibut farming.
“It’s exciting to see a new species being introduced to Frøya, a municipality known for its aquaculture expertise,” said Anders Sæther, of Amar Seafood. “We have brought together a unique team with over 100 years of combined experience in farming salmon and other marine species. Together with a good location with the right current, temperature and ideal protection, this provides the perfect foundation for halibut farming in Norway.”
With three licences totalling 2,340 tonnes at Krutøya, Amar Seafood intends to gradually scale up production, while also utilising the location as an R&D site to test and improve equipment and operational solutions.
Changed decision
Amar Seafood’s initial application for halibut farming at Krutøya, as well as testing technology for farming spotted catfish, was rejected, but granted on appeal.
“We consider that we placed too much emphasis on the probability of infection between halibut, salmonids and cleaner fish. We consider that you describe thorough biosecurity measures and that you demonstrate that you will be able to conduct infection in a manner that is appropriate in terms of animal health and biosecurity,” the Norwegian Food Safety Authority wrote.
Amar Seafood operates land-based, Ocean Wise-certified halibut and wolffish aquaculture operations located in Victoria, Prince Edward Island, and Grand Rivière, Quebec, Canada. It says its broodstock, egg fertilisation, hatchery, nursery, and grow-out operations make it North America’s only fully integrated halibut and wolffish company.
The company bought the Halibut PEI facilities in Victoria, Prince Edward Island, in 2022, and renamed it Amar Seafood PEI.
International hub
Amar’s most recent acquisition is Otter Ferry Seafish, announced in November last year.
Amar Group chief executive Bjørn Apeland said at the time that the group saw Otter Ferry as a Scottish-based international hub supporting its operations in Norway and Canada, both as an advanced hatchery producing increased amounts of quality juveniles and also as a valuable industry agritech research centre.
“We are committed to a phased expansion of the hatchery to enable us to develop our near-market on-growing capacity in Scotland, Canada and Norway,” said Apeland.
