Benchmark Genetics Salten

Benchmark Genetics Salten is the most advanced land-based facility for production of salmon ova in the world, located in Northern Norway. Set in beautiful and remote surroundings, Benchmark Genetics Salten is designed to hold the entire life cycle of broodstock on land, including all life stages — from egg to final mature broodfish. This results in the highest standards of biosecurity in the industry. Seawater is pumped from 15- and 70-meter depths and freshwater is collected from Sørfjordvatnet with no anadrome fish present.

The site is run upon three different systems; RAS, Re-use and flow-through, depending on the life stages and if the fish is kept its entire life on land or only partly.

The production model at Benchmark Genetics Salten includes a partial sea (semiclosed cycle) and land-based system (closed system) where broodstock is taken on land from remotely located sea farms in the Skjerstad Fjord and Kvarøy. Thus spending the last year of their life cycle in a separate compartment on land. Before and during their stay in the Benchmark Genetics Salten facility, the broodstock is sampled and tested for a specific list of pathogens.

It undergoes a substantial supervision program to ensure the highest levels of biosecurity. The rationale behind such a combined production is to provide a sufficient number of breeding candidates with the best combination of genes for nucleus and ova production. Having broodstock at different locations is also a risk-reducing factor for the breeding program and secures the supply of ova to our customers.

Benchmark Genetics Salten in numbers

• 10.000 m2 building mass
• 8.000 m3 water capacity
• 150 million ova per year