Four new salmon farms.
The Independent.ie reports that Mowi subsidiary Mowi Ireland said it could invest EUR 22 million on new sites.
Mowi Ireland MD Jan Feenstra told the publication that the top supplier of organic Irish salmon had been outperforming, hence the need for investment.
In a trading update, Mowi reported that its Ireland subsidiary earned an EBIT of EUR 3.85 (up from Q2 2019’s EUR 2.66) from a 4,000-tonne harvest (up from 2,100 tonnes the period before).
“We have very good solid backers, and they are happy with the way we are approaching our business,” said Feenstra.
“One new site represents an investment of working capital of around EUR 6 million and EUR 7 million. They would easily support us opening another four sites over the next five years,” added the MD.
But the road to new licences and sites is a rocky one in Ireland. Feenstra
explained to SalmonBusiness in late 2019 that Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine had not given out a salmon farming licence in over a decade.
“The lack of action to modernise the licencing regime here both disappointing and very frustrating,” said Feenstra, adding that the current system takes eight years to grant a salmon farming licence.
