Atlantic Sapphire announced it harvested more salmon in Q2 2024 than in Q1, but harvest weights dropped.
The company, in a Q2 2024 trading update posted to the Oslo Børs, said it harvested 1,245 metric tons (MT) of head-on gutted salmon from its Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in the quarter, up from the 1,150 MT it harvested in Q1 2024. During the quarter, the company saw net biomass gain of 1,550 MT live weight, reaching 2,930 MT of standing biomass.
Atlantic Sapphire said its biological development “progressed favorably” in the quarter with stable water quality and temperatures. In June and July 2023, the company undershot its biomass targets due to elevated farming temperatures that were, in part, due to record-breaking heat in Miami. To counter the issue, the company installed water chillers that it said would alleviate the problem.
While temperature and water quality were stable, the company said it realized an average harvest weight of 1.55 kilograms head-on gutted weight – lower than what the company wants.
“Average harvest weight and realized price was affected by having too many fish in the tanks with the current feeding capacity,” Atlantic Sapphire said.
The company added that “a number of mitigating actions have been initiated” but did not elaborate on those actions.
The company also said it will provide more details on its finances in its complete H1 2024 report, scheduled to be published 20 August.
Atlantic Sapphire recently received approval for a USD 250 million (EUR 229 million) public loan to assist in its push to complete Phase 2 of its RAS facility in Miami. The company also appointed Pedro Courard as its new CEO following its founder, Johan Andreassen, stepping down from the role.
Andreassen continued to divest from Atlantic Sapphire in early July by selling off his shares in the company, which were held via Alsco – a Norwegian investment firm owned by the Andreassen family.
“The reason for the sale is that Alsco needs to focus on capital allocation and attention in companies that it has operational responsibility for,” Andreassen told SeafoodSource.
