Located at Europe’s zenith, Norway is naturally associated with a frosty climate. Whale hunting, Viking ancestry and brown cheese are other characteristics of this Scandinavian nation. Dig a little deeper and you find that salmon is a prominent Norwegian export, along with petroleum products, metals and, last but not least, M2M, the once-sensational teenage pop duo.
A cluster of salmon is processed and packed at the Nova Sea AS facility on Norway’s Lovund Island. Norwegian aquaculture has grown substantially to become a world leader in salmon and an important sector of the country’s economy. PATHOM SANGWONGWANICH
With its long Atlantic coastline and even longer seafaring history, Norway’s reputation as a fishing hub is undeniable. Norwegian aquaculture has grown substantially to become a world leader in salmon and an important sector of the country’s economy.
Nova Sea AS, the largest producer of farmed salmon in northern Norway and No.6 among all salmon firms in the country, has been honing its skills since its founding in 1985. Steinar Olaisen, a respected salmon pioneer, was the driving force behind the company’s success story, building on numerous experiments and trials since the early 1970s to develop northern salmon farming.
Today’s Nova Sea AS has origins in four key salmon companies in the Helgeland region: Nova Sea, Seafarm Invest, Torris Products and Marine Harvest. The company is classified as a medium-sized, privately owned corporation with 200 employees and average annual turnover of 1 billion Norwegian kroner (5.32 billion baht). The Lovund-based Vigner Olaisen AS is the biggest stakeholder with a 51% share, while Marine Harvest has a 42% stake and employees own 7%.
The company’s fish-farming facilities are spread through 11 municipalities along the extensive Helgeland coast, surrounded by cold, clear water and a magnificent unspoiled landscape — perfect conditions for salmon farming.
Arne Havard Masoy is a manager at the Nova Sea salmon farm in Tjotta, a breeding spot with eight cages consisting of 100,000 salmon per cage at a depth of 150 metres. These fish munch on 320 tonnes of pellets a month from several feeding vessels. The offshore cages are a joint effort of Nova Sea AS and Aqua Group.
Mr Masoy said the cages are comprised of 97.5% water and 2% fish, meaning the salmon are not packed like sardines in a tin.
Strange as it may sound, these salmon are vaccinated twice individually before reaching 40 grammes in order to prevent disease. Salmon farming must be halted with every disease outbreak, and in some cases farming has stalled for two years.
Caged salmon are sold once they weigh five kilogrammes or more, as smaller salmon are not profitable, said Mr Masoy.
Once the process of harvesting salmon is finished, cages must be emptied for at least two months to comply with Norwegian fishery regulations. Nova Sea AS empties its cages for about five months.
Birds are the main concern for salmon farming, as they are predators, and a web of nets over the cages is designed to keep them out. Meanwhile, the administration and industrial facilities of the company are situated on the island of Lovund in the municipality of Luroy. All harvesting and packing are done on the island before distribution to domestic and international markets.
Stian Berge Amble, an assistant sea production manager, said the facilities have a production capacity of 52,000 tonnes a year or daily capacity of 270 tonnes.
The facilities process salmon with an average weight of five kilogrammes for sales distribution, while salmon exports to Asia weigh 5-8 kilogrammes.
Since sea lice are a major nuisance for salmon producers, Nova Sea AS uses lumpsuckers, a type of small fish, literally to suck out sea lice by attaching them to the back of salmon.
The company last November branched into fish fillets made from processed salmon, with daily production capacity of 20 tonnes.
How does the company cope with high production costs? After all, its facilities are equipped with premium machinery. And Norway has an undisputedly high cost of living reflected in an Economist Intelligence Unit survey that ranked the capital Oslo as the third-priciest city this year after Paris and Singapore.
Mr Amble credits key suppliers, vaccines, sustainable feed and improved technology for helping hold down production costs.
The company’s competitors are mostly domestic fisheries, while international rivals come from Chile, the Faroe Islands and Scotland.
Nova Sea AS has been selling whole gutted salmons directly and indirectly through exporters to Southeast Asia and now plans to expand with fillet exports.
“The integration of trade between the Asean members could make exports more streamlined and therefore allow a broader approach towards the member states,” said Mr Amble. “However, it all comes down to the interest of clients in the market.”
Sales director Bjorn Olvik said Nova Sea AS does not export its fishery products directly to Thailand, but instead they are distributed all over the globe through Norwegian traders.
“These traders are not too open about their client lists, so it is difficult to confirm what types of Nova Sea products go into the Thai market,” he said.
Norway is the world’s second-biggest exporter of seafood, trailing China, and 36 million meals featuring its seafood are served every day, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
The NSC is owned by the Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Ministry and financed by the Norwegian seafood industry through a 0.75% fee levied on all seafood exports. It markets Norwegian seafood on behalf of the domestic seafood industry.
Last year’s total export value was 61 billion kroner, up from 51.6 billion in 2012, for 2.3 million tonnes of volume.
Russia and France were the two largest export markets for Norwegian seafood last year at 6.5 billion and 5.9 billion kroner, respectively.
Hildegunn Fure Osmundsvag, the NSC’s representative in Spain, said the council has no reason to believe the lingering euro-zone recession has depressed demand for Norwegian salmon in Spain, as salmon has a market position regardless of economic circumstances.
Norwegian fresh salmon exports to Spain were estimated at slightly less
than 40,000 tonnes in 2012, and export volume in the first 10 months last year was about 35,000 tonnes, according to NSC statistics.
Consumer prices of salmon in Spain were stable in 2012 at nearly 10 euros
(447 baht) per kilogramme, while prices were higher last year but did not exceed 15 euros.
After vigorous wheel-steering and weathering various predicaments, Norwegian seafood has emerged as one of the most significant export items and a feature in numerous recipes worldwide. Don’t be surprised if your next dish of mouthwatering salmon comes from the Land of the Midnight Sun. Vel bekomme!