The operation was carried out by Samherji's fish farming subsidiary Islandsbleikja when a ship docked at Kirkenes in northern Norway with 600,000 living salmon smolts worth around £650,000 .
Smolt’ is connected solely with salmonid types of fish, and describes the stage when the young freshwater fish is first able to survive in saltwater
They came from two Icelandic fish farms.The smolts were about one year old and their average weight was 100g. The operation started in Thorlakshofn where a truck brought them to the harbour where they were floated onboard the ship Romaster from Norway.
According to Samherji, which has interests in Scotland and England, the ship sailed to Grindavik where more smolts were pumped through a pipe all the way out to the ship, about 400 meters offshore. This part of the transfer took about 24 hours. The Romaster is the largest vessel of its kind (specially equipped to carry live fish) and this operation is the largest ever executed both in regard to distance and quantity.
Jon Kjartan Jonsson, Manager of Islandsbleikja said: “I cannot deny this was a stressful week, the risk was substantial and very important that everything would add up. Transporting live smolts is a very delicate operation and nothing must go wrong, especially with this large quantity and long distance.”
They will be bred for another year before ending on European dinner plates.
Record Number of Smolts Transported in Norway
NORWAY - A fishing company has just completed the transfer of the largest quantity of living salmon between two northern zone countries.
