Nicki Holmyard

Contributing Editor

Nicki Holmyard lives and breathes the seafood industry. As a specialist freelance writer for 25 years, she has travelled the globe to research in-depth articles, interviews and news stories on all aspects of fishing, aquaculture and processing for international journals and newspapers. She has contributed to books on sustainable seafood sourcing and the effects of climate change on the oceans, and acts as a communications consultant for leading fishing and aquaculture concerns. Nicki is also a director of Offshore Shellfish Ltd, which is developing Europe’s largest rope-grown mussel farm.

Published on
September 23, 2021

A recent NOK 162 million (USD 18.6 million, EUR 15.9 million) funding round by Columbi Salmon has confirmed an ongoing interest by some of Norway’s biggest seafood backers in recirculating aquaculture system-based salmon farming.

Amongst others, the shares drew the interest of Broodstock Capital owner Ferd, the majority shareholder in SalMar and Insula owner Kverva Finans; and the company’s founders, the Refsnes family, which remains

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Published on
September 13, 2021

Medina del Campo, Spain-based Noray Seafood has advanced its proprietary “microbiome” technique for shrimp farming to commercial viability, and is now seeking to expand in Europe, according to Bjorn Aspheim, the company’s founder.

Founded in 2008, Noray Seafood took more than a decade and EUR 14 million (USD 16.6 million) to develop and hone its microbial, land-based saltwater system for farming whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus

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Published on
September 7, 2021

Norway-based Andfjord Salmon is advancing its plans to an aquaculture facility using a patented flow-through system, shareholders were told at the company’s quarterly meeting on 3 September …

Photo courtesy of Andfjord

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Published on
August 30, 2021

Kallsjon, Sweden-based Cold Lake AS has announced plans to produce Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility on the edge of Lake Kallsjön, and has signed a deal with Alpha Aqua to design and deliver the project.

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Published on
August 27, 2021

An independent and long-awaited review of fish-farm regulation has been initiated by the Scottish government. It aims to identify the best way to reform and streamline the current system of industry governance and establish a new single determining authority, modeled on the regulatory regime in Norway.

Russel Griggs, an honorary professor at the University of Glasgow, has been appointed to lead the first phase of the review. Griggs, who also

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Published on
August 19, 2021

Norwegian cod farmer Norcod has joined forces with fry producer Havlandet Marin Yngel in a 50-50 joint venture dubbed Havlandet Norcod AS to build a new cod fry facility at Florø, Norway.

The facility, co-financed by SpareBank and Sogn & Fjordane, represents a major investment in cod aquaculture and is licenced to produce up to 24 million cod fry per year. The first fish are expected to go into the water in autumn 2022 and represent

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Published on
August 17, 2021

The unveiling of the first mussel-vending machine in Yerseke, the Dutch capital of mussel farming, helped to kick off the new ground-culture mussel season this summer.

Former Dutch national soccer player Jan Boskamp pulled the first pack from the machine last month.

Located in Yerseke’s harbor area, the refrigerated machine has 45 compartments and allows consumers 24-hour access to fresh mussels sold in two-kilogram modified atmosphere

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Published on
July 29, 2021

Norwegian cod farmer Norcod achieved another milestone this week with the transfer of its latest batch of juvenile fish to sea, to be ready to harvest in a year’s time.

Photo courtesy of

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Published on
July 26, 2021

Building climate resilience will be essential to the United Kingdom's seafood indsutry if it hopes to maintain production and account for impendeing changes, speakers from around the world told the U.K. government’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries at its most recent meeting.

The panel, which is operated by the U.K.’s Fisheries Secretariat, is a cross-party body focused on issues affecting the U.K. fishing and seafood

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Published on
July 13, 2021

Taking advantage of the Norwegian government’s ambitions for the country’s fish farms to produce five million metric tons (MT) of sustainable seafood by 2050, Stavanger, Norway-based industrial group Moreld launched Moreld Aqua in June 2021. The new company will provide advisory services and turnkey solutions to support sustainable growth in the aquaculture industry; a growth that needs to reach four times the current level of

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