Grieg reports Q3 harvest volumes fell by almost half compared to last year

Grieg Seafoods has reported its total harvest volume for Q3 2023 has fallen to nearly half of its harvest total in Q3 2022.

In a Q3 2023 trading update posted to the Oslo Børs, the company announced it harvested 12,200 metric tons (MT) of gutted-weight salmon across three locations. In Q2 2022, the company harvested 22,923 MT of gutted-weight salmon – meaning this quarter saw a nearly 47 percent lower harvest than last year.

The harvests were also down compared to Q2 2023, when the company harvested 22,645 MT of gutted-weight salmon. At the time, the company said its biological challenges had begun to ease, after a period of dealing with parasites and winter ulcers.

Across the three salmon farming areas, the lowest harvest was at the company’s Finnmark site, which harvested 1,300 MT. According to Grieg, the company originally didn’t plan to have any harvests in Finnmark during Q3 2023, but “prioritized early harvest over biomass growth to maintain fish welfare related to Spironucleus salmonicida.”

Grieg has tangled with Spironucleus salmonicida at Finnmark in the past, and nearly one year ago was forced to cull 1 million salmon in the region due to the parasite and continued to face issues in Q1 2023. The early, smaller harvest impacted farming costs, which reached NOK 83.8 (USD 7.64, EUR 7.23) per kilogram at the site.

The next largest harvest was at the company’s Rogaland region. The company harvested 4,800 MT of gutted-weight salmon in Q3 2023, down from the 6,841 MT it harvested in Q3 2022 – a drop of nearly 30 percent. An ISA-related harvest and reduced survival in the quarter dragged on the harvest totals and also drove up costs to NOK 65.8 (USD 6.00, EUR 5.68) per kilogram.

Despite the increase in costs, the weaker Norwegian krone means the cost per kilogram in U.S. dollars was roughly equal to the cost per kilogram in Q3 2022.

In British Columbia, the company harvested 6,100 MT of gutted-weight salmon in Q3 2023, a nearly 23 percent drop from the 7,908 MT it harvested in 2022. The company did not offer any reasons for the decrease in its update.

Cost-wise, British Columbia’s farming cost per kilogram in Q3 2023 hit CAD 10.90 (USD 7.98, EUR 7.55) – a slight increase from the CAD 10.10 (USD 7.40, EUR 6.99) it cost in Q3 2022. 

The company’s complete Q3 2023 report will be released on 14 November.  

Photo courtesy of Grieg