Covid-driven oxygen shortage forces Atlantic Sapphire to harvest fish early
On-land salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire is carrying out a controlled harvest of 100,000 fish at sub-optimal weights at its Florida facility because of what it says is an unprecedented demand for liquid oxygen related to a spike in Covid-19 cases in the United States.
The company has also paused feeding because of the oxygen shortage, it said in a presentation of a report about its performance in the first half of 2021.
“As of the date of this report, deliveries of oxygen in Florida are in extremely high demand from health and public safety customers,” Atlantic Sapphire wrote in the report.
“Limited supply of oxygen in the USA, coupled with USA federal working hour restrictions on truck drivers, has constrained their ability to deliver oxygen. This is expected to be ongoing for the next few weeks. Ultimately, the consequences and timeline of the Coronavirus are still unclear and the overall effect on the business is uncertain.”
227 deaths per day
According to a report in the UK-based Independent online newspaper, more people are sick with Covid-19 in Florida now than at any other time during the pandemic. An average of 227 people die each day from Covid-19, with a seven-day average of 22,000 cases. For comparison, the seven-day average in New York – once the epicentre of the virus – is 1,800.
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, described by Vanity Fair as the “Angel of Death”, has made it clear he would push back on virtually any mitigation effort or restriction if it interfered with commerce. While he has been supportive of the vaccine, he has also used his executive powers to countermand emergency restrictions and mask mandates passed by local governments.
Die-offs and chiller problems
The oxygen shortage is the latest of setbacks for Atlantic Sapphire in the US and in Denmark, where it also has an on-land salmon farm.
In January, the internal chiller plant at the Florida facility broke down, resulting in Atlantic Sapphire US (ASUS) incurring short-term costs of $7.4 million including temporary rental chillers and generators.
In March, a fault in one of the grow-out systems in Florida caused the loss of around 500 tonnes (head on gutted) of fish with an average weight of approximately 1kg, and in July the facility in Denmark lost 400 tonnes (HOG) of fish, equivalent to 17% of annualised harvest volumes, due to an issue believed to be connected to maintenance of the filtration system.
ASUS is estimating a harvest of around 3,000 gutted weight tonnes in the second half of 2021, with a full steady state harvest – the equivalent of 9,500 gwt annually - expected in H2 2022. Lower harvest volumes are expected in the first half of next year due to the losses experienced this year.
$49.9m operating loss
Atlantic Sapphire made an operating loss of $49.9 million in the six months until June 30 this year, more than twice the $23.3m lost in the same period last year.
It has been successful in sales, attracting a premium price and securing almost 2,000 outlets for its fish, but had expected to reach 10,000 gwt a year already.
It has started work on Phase 2 of its facility at Homstead, Florida were it eventually plans to produce around 200,000 tonnes of salmon annually.
