Economic analysis of on-growing of salmon post-smolts

Environmental challenges in sea-based salmon aquaculture limit expansion of this industry. In Norway, the main challenge is sea lice which causes higher mortality, lower harvest weight and a reduction in the quality of harvested fish. The economic consequences for farmers are substantial, so the farmers have incentives to develop new technologies to take advantage of favorable market conditions. One of these is extending the land-based phase in the production: instead of releasing smolts of 100-150 g for on-growing in sea, the land-based phase is lengthened to produce post-smolts of up to 1,000 g before release in sea-water. A longer production period on land means that the sea water phase is correspondingly reduced with less exposure to sea lice. Results indicate that in the case of no lice, on-growing of 100 g smolts is most cost efficient, however, as lice costs are considered, the results clearly show that on-growing of post-smolts on land is profitable. The results presented in the article are supported by developments in the industry where increased production of post-smolts can be observed.