Swiss Alpine Fish nets community approval to take next step in land-based salmon farm expansion

Swiss Alpine Fish, a land-based salmon farming company based in Lostallo, Switzerland, has received local regulatory approval to expand its aquaculture facility. 

The company, founded in 2013, said it has received approval from the Civic Community of Lostallo for a planned expansion of its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) salmon farm. Swiss Alpine Fish has been successfully farming salmon in the Swiss Alps for years and selling it under the Swiss Lachs brand.

“We are incredibly pleased to have received the approval from the Lostallo Civic Community last night and will now move forward with discussions with the authorities and stakeholders to consolidate the needs of all stakeholders in the final project,” Swiss Alpine Fish Co-Founder and Board Chair Ronald Herculeijns said. “The expansion is necessary to meet the ever-growing demand for our sustainably and regionally farmed salmon.” 

The company’s land-based salmon farm, the only one of its kind in Switzerland, uses filtered water that recirculates 98 percent of the water each cycle. It raises its fish to a harvest weight of at least 3.5 kilograms in its RAS system, and then processes them and either smokes them in its own alpine smokehouse or ships them fresh to customers. In 2022, the company said it harvested and processed roughly 95,000 fish. 

The company grows its salmon from eggs sourced from Iceland to harvest size, doesn’t use any antibiotics, and uses green energy sourced from hydroelectric plants, Herculeijns said in a video overview of the company’s operations.

“We are only 60 kilometers away from the world economic forum in Davos,” he said.

The new expansion will allow the company to refine its processes in addition to being necessary to keep up with local demand, Herculeijns said in a release,. With the approval of the civic community, Swiss Alpine Fish will now begin planning the expansion and determine the size and scope of the new facility. 

“This development will allow us to make a positive contribution to the environment by increasing the proportion of sustainably produced salmon,” he said. “In addition, we will create about 20 new jobs in aquaculture, fish processing and refinement, and sales in the next few years.”  

Photo courtesy of Swiss Lachs