Norway-based cod farmer Norcod's plans to supply the market consistently with cod will be delayed significantly because of a government-mandated early harvest at its farms.

"By next year, we had plans to supply the market with cod every week, but this will no longer happen," Norcod COO Kian Zadegan told IntraFish.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries told Norcod in January it must harvest some of its cod earlier than planned after the discovery that the fish was reaching maturity for spawning.

In the worst case scenario, the company said, its plans to supply the market with cod on a weekly basis could be delayed by as much as a year.

The early harvest, which has to be completed by April, also comes in the middle of the wild cod season with ensuing lower prices that will result in weaker sales, leading to losses in the first and second quarter, Zadegan told IntraFish.

The company will deliver the prematurely harvested fish to regular customers and some will be sold on the spot market.

"We have asked our contract customers to take higher volumes at a discount, but some fish will have to be sold on the spot market where prices currently are lower," Zadegan said.

The company's fourth quarter result published on March 2 revealed an operating loss of NOK 136 million (€12.2 million/$13 million) -- four times the loss in the same period last year. Its revenue remained around the NOK 51 million (€4.5 million/$4.8 million) mark.

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