The land-based broodstock and egg facility in Sørfjorden was officially opened on 21 May 2019 and Benchmark’s goal is to eventually reach an annual production of approximately 150 million eggs.
“The way we produce broodstock here in Salten is unique,” says Kristian Sørmo, the facility’s production manager. "We keep our broodstock on land throughout, and can with the help of light and temperature create artificial spawning seasons.”
“This is something the customers, who are Norwegian salmon farmers, appreciate. In recent years, the industry has invested large sums in advanced RAS facilities for smolt, which is the first phase in the production of salmon. These facilities need to be supplied with salmon eggs throughout the year, also outside the salmon's natural spawning season," he adds.
At the island of Askøy, outside Bergen, egg number 100 million was delivered to Blom Settefisk AS, as part of a batch of 500,000.
“The product that we deliver to Blom today is produced from broodstock which, among other things, has been selected specifically for resistance to sea lice,” says Kate F Stenerud, the company's regional sales manager in southern Norway.
Klaus Nyhammer, who is smolt production manager at Blom Fiskeoppdrett, thought it was great that his company was the one who received the 100 millionth ova.
“Now we will take over the baton and ensure that the eggs are taken care of in the best possible way – from hatching until late summer 2021, when the smolt will be put into the sea. Here, genetic traits such as robustness, increased lice resistance and faster growth will be important to ensure that it eventually ends up as a fish ready for harvest in the autumn of 2022,” he says.