Bouyant Mowi Scotland targets bumper harvest in first half of year
Mowi expects to harvest almost 40,000 gutted weight tonnes of salmon in Scotland in the first half of this year, the company said today.
The harvest guidance was included in a presentation of the company’s Q4 2024 results, and follows a year with significantly improved biological performance, harvest volumes, cost, and earnings.
Mowi Scotland made an operating profit of €110.6 million, (£92.2m at today’s exchange rate) last year, including €23.2m in Q4, reversing a rare loss of -€1.1m in the same quarter in 2023. Operating profit per kilo was €1.37 (Q4 2023: -€0.10), and achieved prices were 141% of the reference price for salmon during the period due to improved harvest weight, increased sale of differentiated products, and positive contribution from Consumer Products at Rosyth in Fife and contracts.
Harvest volume increased to 16,953 gwt (10,568 gwt) which was above guidance as a result of good production and lower mortality. These factors also reduced costs.
“The seasonal challenges associated with algae and jelly fish have been less of an issue this year following lower sea temperatures,” wrote Mowi in its Q4 report. “Mowi Scotland has also improved its treatment capacity, including capacity for amoebic gill disease treatments. However, string jellyfish (Apolemia) were again present in high numbers throughout October and November.”
The company said post-smolts transferred from Loch Etive to marine sites in the quarter were impacted by string jellyfish which declined and abated in late November.
Major improvements
“Otherwise, all post-smolts are showing good performance in the sea,” wrote Mowi. “Our post-smolt operations in Loch Etive are developing as planned. The four-site system is being fallowed twice per year, which has resulted in major biological improvements and much lower sea lice pressure. Loch Etive has now been restocked with 4 million smolt which will transfer to marine sites in Q1 at around 400 grams. Going forward we expect Loch Etive to have an annual output of post-smolt in the range of 7 to 8 million.”
A new broodstock facility at Ardessie is ongoing and operations are expected to commence in Q3 2025.
“Both the post-smolt project and the broodstock facility are important steps to further improve our biological and financial performance,” wrote Mowi. “Post-smolt partially mitigates summer water quality challenges and eggs of the Mowi strain correlate strongly with higher robustness and lower mortality in Scottish marine conditions.”
