Norwegian cod farmer Ode granted sixth production site

Ode – formerly known as the Gadus Group – has been granted approval for a sixth farm site, increasing the company’s potential yearly production capacity to more than 25,000 metric tons (MT) of farmed cod. 

The Ålesund, Norway-based company said the site has a maximum allowed biomass of 3,500 MT. The increased capacity will help it meet its “ambitious growth plan," the company said.

“We already serve our customers with fresh cod every day, 52 weeks per year, and this new farming site will further strengthen our ability to support the growing demand for fresh farmed cod,” Ode CEO Ola Kvalheim.

Kvalheim said it Ode has successfully farmed three generations of cod and has received a positive reception in the marketplace.

“We are experiencing very strong demand for our products despite challenging macro environment in some markets, making increased production imperative to meet the market’s growing appetite for fresh farmed cod,” Kvalheim said.

The company's first batch of cod, which was sent to market in November 2022, had a 96 percent survival rate over 18 months, a feed-conversion ratio below 1.0, and no early maturation. In June 2023, through a partnership with researchers at the Norwegian research institute Møreforsking, Ode achieved a scientific breakthrough identifying how the use of light can further delay early maturation of cod. 

Ode’s announcement comes just days after Norwegian cod farming company Norcod announced a similar grant in the Nesna municipality in Nordland county in Norway. Norcod was granted an allowed biomass of 3,599 MT, bringing its total capacity to 17,500 MT per year.

In August 2023, farmed cod made up 14 percent of all of Norway’s cod exports – a massive increased compared to the same month last year, when no farmed cod at all was exported.

NSC Seafood Analyst Eivind Hestvik Brækkan has predicted that farmed cod will likely be exported from Norway every month in 2023.  

Photo courtesy of Ode