Gigante halves production after smolt deaths

Mortality issues were found with its second release of smolt, none of which are thought to be related to the company’s facility.

These challenges have led to a reduction in production by around 300,000, or nearly 50% of the earlier release in January. This amounts to the entire volume of Gigante’s second smolt delivery.

“If the fish are not doing well, neither are we,” said chief executive, Helge E W Albertsen.

“Our employees are doing everything they can to address the fish’s health challenges. It is of little consolation to us that this is not due to the design of the facility. We are doing what we can to handle the situation.”

Gigante Salmon says it is collaborating with the fish health services to investigate the cause of the mortality and put mitigating measures in place. It is thought the deaths are the result of a combination of factors, rather than one single cause.

Initial investigations have shown the smolt in the second delivery to be of lower quality for several reasons included delayed delivery, recorded mortality during loading on to the wellboat, bad weather meaning the delivery spent longer on board and low sea temperatures at the time of release.

“The fish are now doing well in the longitudinal tanks, which are now operating with a water velocity of about 20 cm/s,” said Albertsen. “We are gaining valuable experience for future production.”