Biological issues challenge salmon sector

Leading food and agribusiness bank Rabobank reports that biological issues for the last year have plagued aquaculture, particularly in Norway, with high mortality levels and significant drops in the proportion of superior grade fish. Increase in the use of mechanical sea lice treatments in the warmer months damage the mucosal layers of the salmon so they are more susceptible to disease when the coastal waters cool.

Typically around 90 percent of salmon are superior grade while only around 5 percent are the lowest grade, known simply as production fish, but over the last few quarters there have been weeks when production fish have accounted for up to 35 percent of the harvests.

The report says that a lot of technology is being deployed at solving these challenges, and points to the recent success of land-based flow-through technology.

• The Rabobank report is paywalled but you can read summaries on the Fish Site, and at industry supported Global Seafood Alliance.