The aquaculture arm of Samherji, Samherji Fish Farming, has just completed a share capital increase of USD 26 million. The funds will be used to build a pilot project for land-based salmon farming in Öxarfjördur, in Northeast Iceland, and design and construct a 40,000-tonne salmon farm in the Resource Park next to the Reykjanes Power Plant in the Reykjanes Peninsula.
This is the first phase of a share capital increase of USD 56.5 million that has already been approved. Following the share capital increase, a new board will be elected in Samherji Fish Farming at the company's annual general meeting. Norwegian Alf-Helge Aarskog, former CEO of Mowi and one of the world's most experienced experts in the field of aquaculture, has invested in Samherji Fish Farming and will join the company's board of directors.
Samherji will build and operate a land-based farm in Reykjanes Peninsula, where the aim is to produce 40,000 tonnes of salmon annually. The fish farm will be in the Resource Park next to the Reykjanes Power Plant and will consist of a hatchery, breeding farm, processing plant, and service buildings. The total investment is estimated at over USD 340 million. Work on the environmental assessment and local planning for the facility is currently underway. The fish farm will be designed and constructed based on the experience of new units in the pilot project in Öxarfjördur and Samherji's employees' more than twenty years of experience and development in farming salmon and Arctic char on land.
Aarskog's board participation is a significant vote of confidence for Samherji Fish Farming and its ambitious plans for land-based aquaculture. Aarskog is a very successful business executive. Until recently, he was the CEO of Mowi, the largest fish farming company globally, which produces 20% of all salmon sold worldwide. “There are few people in the world who have more experience in fish farming than Alf-Helge Aarskog. An individual with vast knowledge and experience in international aquaculture and a large network is now joining the board to take our knowledge to the next level. This is a great recognition of Samherji's development of land farming over the past two decades,” said Jón Kjartan Jónsson, managing director of Samherji Fish Farming.
