Cod-farming venture Norcod and cod fry producer Havlandet Marin Yngel partnered in a 50-50 joint venture, Havlandet Norcod AS, to build a new hatchery in Florø with a production capacity of 24 million cod fry per year and is expected to be ready to receive its first fry in autumn 2022. 

Havlandet has 20 years’ experience in land-based breeding and production of cod fry, but only a few years ago had no buyers for the product. They continued their program only out of optimism that the market would one day return. With Norcod’s arrival, the wind has changed and access to sufficient cod fry for large-scale farming has become more of a challenge.

Havlandet is currently spawning its 7th generation of cod, with very positive developments made through each generation. The cod is now a tame fish with excellent breeding characteristics and genetics, reflecting the partners’ strong belief in cod as a major new aquaculture species. Investing in a new fry facility is intended to secure predictable fry supply for both companies in the future, while also having the capacity to increase sales to other market players.

“This is a key milestone for Havlandet. We started cod breeding back in 2000 and thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of our team made great progress both in terms of growth rate and health of the fish. If everything goes as planned, we also want to build a land-based production facility for juveniles and food fish. We’re really happy to be working with Norcod on this first phase of a bigger expansion at Fjord Base and are proud to be supporting them in breathing new life into the business of cod farming,” said Havlandet managing director, Halvard Hovland.

“Building this brand-new fry facility is an important step for Norcod on our journey towards achieving harvest volumes of 25,000 metric tons of fresh farmed cod in the coming years. It also cements our collaboration with Havlandet as a strong platform for the future,” said chair of the Norcod board, Marit Solberg.