The development of First Water’s fish farming facilities in Þorlákshöfn will cost approximately ISK 115 billion in total and it is Iceland’s largest privately funded project.
According to schedule, the production capacity will amount to around 50 thousand tons of salmon annually once development has been completed. “The project has been divided into six phases and about 10% has been completed. Everything has gone according to plan so far, but we have extensive work ahead of us in the coming years,” CEO of First Water hf. Eggert Þór Kristófersson said in an interview with Morgunblaðið.
One Salmon or Three Codfish
First Water’s aquaculture facility is located just west of the town of Þorlákshöfn. Upon entering the area, it becomes clear right away that there is a lot going on, cranes and heavy machinery stand close to newly constructed buildings.
This scene unfolds by the seashore but the facility itself is built on a hill of lava. Down below is a great resource; abundance of freshwater at a depth of 20 meters and further down geothermal seawater which is pumped up into the fish tanks. Once construction has been completed, the tanks will number 170. They will require a total of 30 thousand liters of flowing seawater per second, which will originate from the 180 boreholes currently being drilled.
“Worldwide there is great demand for salmon products and demand is growing more rapidly than what producers have been able to meet. The market is currently around three million tons annually and it has expanded by 3–5% since early January. And this is where we enter the field with our products which are marketed quality from nature. The increased popularity of sushi has had a large part in the increased demand for salmon. It is not unreasonable to assume that at some point in the future, aquaculture will become a larger industry than traditional fisheries. At a Fisheries Iceland conference in 2022, Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson [CEO of Samherji] referenced a rule of thumb concerning one salmon and three codfish, meaning that the price for one 5 kg salmon equals the price of three equally heavy codfish,” Eggert Þór states.