A suspected infectious salmon anemia (ISA) outbreak is being monitored at one of Grieg Seafood's sites in Rogaland, in western Norway.
The salmon producer reported the possible outbreak on May 15. Grieg Seafood Rogaland confirmed the outbreak in a statement the following day.
"Unfortunately, there has been a suspected detection of ISA during a routine heath inspection at one of our smallest farms in our Rogaland region In Norway," wrote the company in the release.
The farm comprises 560,000 fish, equating to 1,400 metric tons on site, according to the statement.
There are no signs of sickness or increased mortality at the farm, a Grieg spokesperson told IntraFish, who confirmed that the fish will be harvested out should the detection be substantiated by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
"We are not expecting any material impact to our operations or harvesting volume in Rogaland," the spokesperson added.
An immediate inspection of the plant to take more samples for confirmation of the disease will be underway quickly, according to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
ISA outbreaks can spread quickly and lead to large financial losses. Chile, Norway, Canada and the Faroe Islands have all suffered devastating outbreaks over the past two decades.
The news comes on the back of a string of good news for Grieg Seafood, including record-breaking earnings and harvest volumes for 2022.
Grieg Seafood's full-year 2022 operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was just over NOK 1.7 billion (€156.1 million/$167 million), compared with NOK 442 million (€40.6 million/$43.4 million) in 2021. The increase was predominantly driven by significantly higher prices and volumes.
The year ended with a record harvest of 84,697 metric tons, up 12 percent on the previous year.
