LAXEY: SUSTAINABLE SALMON FARMING IN VESTMANNAEYJAR

LAXEY: Sustainable salmon farming in Vestmannaeyjar. Fish Focus’ latest feature follows our trip to the Icelandic archipelago, Vestmannaeyjar.

After a good night’s sleep, we drove to Laxey, a land-based salmon-farming company, where we were met by Frosti Gíslason, our tour guide for the next few days and Óskar Jósúason, head of public relations for Laxey.

The company was formed in 2019 by the founders Daði Pálsson, Hallgrímur Steinsson and Lárus Ásgeirsson and is backed by their anchor invester, the Ós family, with a fishing-industry heritage of over 80 years.

The head of the Ós family, Mr. Sigurjón Óskarsson plays an active role in the company and we were to meet him later that day.

Óskar showed us round Laxey’s state-of-the-art smolt station, explaining the processes involved from egg to fully grown salmon.

“The first process on the site here is the delivery of Salmon ova from Benchmark Genetics, which start their life cycle in the Hatchery. They are moved through the smolt station as they grow to three Recirculating Aquaculture Systems RAS 1, 2 & 3. We are now in a position that we have biomass in all stages at the smolt station and they are all performing very well. “Óskar explained.

“All the young fish are vaccinated but no medicines are used in production and the company follows the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards, where controlled conditions and quality feed will help ensure premium salmon

“When the smolt from the RAS reach the size of 100 grammes, they are transferred to a post-smolt system, utilising saltwater coming from 30-metre deep boreholes. The post-smolt system consists of six fish tanks each 18 metres in diameter with a volume of 900 m3. When the smolts in this system have reached the post-smolt stage at around 500 grammes, they will be moved into modules for final grow-out to market size of 5-6 kg.

“A total of six grow-out modules will be built on completion of the project, each having eight fish tanks with a diameter of 28 metres and a volume of 5000 m3 giving a total rearing capacity of 40,000 m3 for each module.” he concluded

Óskar Jósúason

Óskar gave us a tour of the state-of-the-art building including meeting, eating and recreational facilities and one of the beautiful apartments, purpose built for employees moving from overseas to work at the company – we were tempted to hand over our CVs at this point!

Óskar took us to Viðlagafjara, where the construction of the company’s new development of post-smolt grow out facility is underway on land reclaimed after the eruption of Eldfell.

It was here that we were to meet Mr Sigurjón Óskarsson a former skipper and vessel owner and head of the Ós family, who has been honoured for his contribution to economic development in the Westman Islands over a period of almost 80 years.

In 2023, the family’s fishing and fish processing history came to an end and then a new chapter began with the development of Laxey, which gives new impetus to the economy.

As this is the largest single project in the history of the Westman Islands, Mr Óskarsson is keeping a very close eye on proceedings and can be found on site on a daily basis, driving diggers and helping to clear the way for the new construction. After a hard day on site, Mr Óskarsson is well known for heading to the office and swinging a golf club ball or two in the purpose-built golf recreation room.

It was a pleasure to meet Mr Óskarsson and we were very grateful that he was able to take a few minutes out of his day to greet us.

As we continued the tour, Óskar took us to the busy construction area where he showed us around the rest of the grow out facilities, including the vast array of pipework, pumps and electronics required to deliver and run this complex system.

We stood inside one of the massive grow out tanks and Óskar explained how these tanks are constructed and the sheer enormity of just one tank made us realise the scale this production will be on.

On exiting we met a couple of construction workers who had found a puffling on the site, which they gave to us in a box for safe keeping. Later that day, we would take the puffling to get it weighed and health-checked at the Puffin Rescue Centre before releasing it at one of the designated cliff top spots.

Before we left the site, Óskar showed us where the boats would come in to dock, so that the fully grown salmon can be transferred through a piping system, pumping straight onboard for shipping to their next destination.

The Heimaey Salmon Farm

LAXEY’s salmon farm is raising high-quality salmon using clean energy and fresh seawater in ideal natural conditions. The waters around the Westman Islands are the warmest in Iceland, delivering filtered water at an ideal temperature (7 – 9 degrees), helping the salmon grow quickly and healthily.

Waste is filtered from the effluent of the farm and is further processed and used to fertilise land and achieve full utilisation of the nitrogen in the feed. Furthermore, the effluent from the farm is rich in nutrients and can be used, for example in shellfish or seaweed cultivation. This would be in the style of circular economies – using one company’s waste as a feed for another operation.

LAXEY works in harmony with both nature and the local community offering a modern attractive workplace for skilled professionals with a salmon farming initiative that will benefit the local economy.

With a projected production target of 36,000 tonnes per year by 2031, the salmon farm will benefit the local economy by becoming one of the region’s largest companies, with more than 100 people directly employed and additional indirect jobs created. Skilled and dedicated staff are essential for healthy fish and efficient operations.

Overall, the construction will take about six to seven years and will involve many industrial companies employing local workers and the harbour will benefit by an increase in transport and related activities.

There is growing global demand for responsibly produced high-quality seafood, so LAXEY wants to build a strong workplace culture focusing on training, teamwork and education in aquaculture.

By combining great natural conditions, community support and skilled people, LAXEY aims to create a new economic pillar for Vestmannaeyjar.

Project Progress

The project began in 2018, when environmental assessments were done with EFLA, a leading Icelandic engineering firm, focusing on making all plans and technical solutions sustainable and robust.

LAXEY has successfully completed its first salmon harvest at the company’s land-based rearing facility, which is a major milestone marking the full completion of its production cycle from ova to finished product.

Project timeline:

• November 2023 – First ova arrived
• November 2024 – First fish transferred for rearing
• November 2025 – First harvest completed

In just 23 months since receiving its first eggs, LAXEY has produced 4–5 kg salmon, demonstrating the success of its production model under real-world conditions. The harvest also served as the first trial of the company’s new processing facilities, which performed as planned.

The harvested fish showed excellent condition, with strong body shape and vibrant colour — resulting in 98% graded as superior quality. These results confirm both the robustness of the production system and the potential for delivering premium Icelandic salmon to market.

Looking ahead, LAXEY will continue to scale production and begin regular deliveries of fresh salmon to customers worldwide. The company remains committed to building on local expertise and close cooperation with the Westman Islands community.

By next year, LAXEY expects to reach a production volume of approximately 5,000 tonnes — bringing fresh, sustainably farmed Icelandic salmon from the Westman Islands to consumers in leading international markets.

We are looking forward to following Laxey’s Success and would like to thank the company and in particular Óskar Jósúason for the welcome that we received and the time taken to show us around their exciting salmon production facilities.

We will be posting an article every day, covering this amazing trip and showcasing the Icelandic Seafood industry, cutting edge aquaculture, Icelandic heritage and the hospitality of the Icelandic people. You can read the whole publication here

Images: Laxey