Proximar: 'Turbidity is still a challenge'

Land-based salmon farmer Proximar Seafood today published its fifth production update following the start of production at its Oyama facility in Japan in October 2022 and trial harvest on September 30, 2024.

By the end of the third quarter of 2024, the company had a standing biomass of 735 tonnes, more than doubling from 360 tonnes at the end of Q2 2024.

"We are very pleased to see the positive development in our biomass continue through the third quarter of 2024. Water quality is still good, although turbidity remains a challenge. Our first batch averages over 5 kg, and we are on schedule to begin daily slaughtering from the end of October," said chief executive Joachim Nielsen.

The company currently has 18 batches and approximately 1.9 million fish in production. The long-term goal for the harvest level of Proximar is 5,300 tonnes (head on gutted) per year in phase 1 of the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility.

Turbidity challenges

As communicated in the second quarter report in August, Proximar has experienced problems with turbidity during the growth phase. 

"As a precaution, feeding has been somewhat reduced in recent months, which has affected growth. After recent measures, the turbidity has improved," the company wrote. 

Furthermore, an ozone system is now installed and will be operational soon. 

"The ozone is expected to have a positive effect on turbidity, based on experiences from other facilities."

On September 30, the company harvested about 1.2 tonnes of fish from its first batch. The fish has been distributed to supermarkets mainly in the Greater Tokyo area. The same day, the new brand and logo "Fuji Atlantic Salmon" was launched.

The trial harvest was completed last week.

The harvested salmon had an average weight of about 4 kg HOG with 100% superior quality.