A total of more than 35,000 metric tons of farmed salmon is expected to be harvested in Iceland this year, triple the amount produced in 2017 and 40 percent more than 2019 according to figures from Kontali.

“We know that there are established players involved who have capacity, interest and desire to lift production and let Iceland be part of the growth strategy,” said Kontali head of analysis Ragnar Nystoyl, who sees it as an exciting region.

Among key players is Icelandic fishing company Samherji which is now farming salmon on land. The company, which produced 1,500 metric tons this year, now has a license for 3,000.

“We are positive about the development and there will be growth next year,” Jon Kjartan Jonasson, director of fish farming at Samherji, told IntraFish.

One of Iceland's 'traditional' salmon producers, Laxar, estimates it will harvest a total of 9,000 metric tons of salmon this year. The company recently received an increase in licenses and now has a total production license of 16,000 metric tons.

“We are planning for smolt release next spring in order to fulfill our licenses,” CEO Jens Gardar Helgason told IntraFish.

The goal is to increase up to 16,000 metric tons by 2023, he said, with estimated production of 12,000 metric tons next year.

Other Iceland salmon farming companies gave IntraFish the following predicted harvests for the year:

Ice Fish Farm: 4,350 metric tons (down from an estimate of 6,150 metric tons)
Icelandic Salmon (Arnarlax): 12,000 metric tons
Laxar: 9,000 metric tons
Arctic Fish: 8,200 metric tons
Samherji: 1,500 metric tons

There are also some smaller land-based, family-owned fish farms, but volumes here are marginal.

While growth is rapid, volumes compared to more established players are still fractional: more than 1.3 million metric tons of salmon were harvested in Norway in 2020.

“There were a number of biological challenges on the west coast of Iceland this spring, which, of course, impacted the potential for the current year,” said Nystoyl.

“Otherwise, production has gone relatively as expected, as we see it.”

Iceland, like Norway, counts the European Union as its main market.

However, last year, as well as in the first quarter of 2020, a good number of fish also went to the US market, but this has plummeted in terms of volume in the wake of the corona pandemic.

Aquaculture

'Capacity, interest and desire' create 'exciting' Icelandic salmon farming industry