Aquaculture in Iceland

22. March 2019

There has been a significant growth in aquaculture in Iceland and fish farming activities have quadrupled in the last decade. In 2018, the production was 19 thousand tonnes, which is 1.8 thousand tonnes less than in 2017. Turnover in aquaculture was just above 19 billion ISK in 2017 and has been increasing every year. There have been many investments in fish farming in last years and the net worth of the aquaculture businesses was 51% in 2017. The main species are salmon and arctic char. According to Eurostat, Iceland ranks fourth as main salmon producers in Europe and Iceland has the highest production of arctic char.

Aquaculture species and business
The produced amount of farmed fish has quadrupled in the last 10 years and was 19 thousand tonnes in 2018. The main growth has been in breeding of salmon which has increased from 292 tonnes in 2008 to 13.5 thousand tonnes in 2018. Farming of arctic char has been stable in the last decade. Around 5 thousand tonnes were produced in 2018, compared with 3.1 thousand tonnes in 2008. Farming of rainbow trout peaked at 4,600 tonnes in 2017, while the production dropped to 295 tonnes in 2018.

Table 1 Aquaculture production in Iceland (tonnes of ungutted fish)
Species 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
All species 5,029 5,165 5,050 5,309 7,431 7,053 8,328 8,383 15,129 20,859 19,077
Salmon 292 714 1,068 1,083 2,923 3,018 3,965 3,260 8,420 11,265 13,448
Arctic char 3,124 2,405 2,427 3,021 3,089 3,215 3,411 3,937 4,084 4,454 4,914
Rainbow trout 6 75 88 226 422 113 603 728 2,138 4,628 295
Other species* 1607 1971 1467 979 997 707 349 458 487 513 420

The number of employed persons in aquaculture was 435 in 2017 and the overall revenue in the field was 19.3 billion ISK. The net worth of aquaculture companies has increased significantly in the last few years.

Table 2 Selected items from financial income statements (billion ISK)
Item 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0-2-0 No. of employees 164 173 163 217 241 268 306 339 406 435
1-1-0 Operating income 2,995 3,447 3,960 4,466 6,220 6,654 9,328 9,588 14,391 19,303
1-2-2 Labour costs -666 -706 -804 -1,103 -1,375 -1,576 -2,169 -2,316 -3,203 -3,689
1-3-0 EBIT 539 456 929 664 496 206 153 -889 -1,719 924
1-8-0 Net profit -643 131 705 293 44 -83 -378 -1,263 -1,609 -1,534
2-1-0 Fixed assets 2,076 2,140 2,820 3,609 5,699 8,554 11,084 11,087 15,266 20,634
2-2-2 Stock 2,048 1,845 2,599 3,792 4,742 6,574 8,756 11,222 11,465 13,178
2-3-1 Long-term liabilities 3,756 2,154 3,599 3,417 4,377 6,278 9,154 10,773 10,707 11,990
2-3-2 Short-term liabilities 1,489 2,097 1,476 3,397 4,209 4,374 2,972 4,654 8,795 9,783
2-4-0 Equity 143 1,025 2,060 2,691 5,020 7,684 11,808 11,761 17,398 22,193
Export and comparison with other countries
The export value of farmed fish has increased sevenfold in the last 10 years, from 2 billion ISK in 2008 to 13.7 billion ISK in 2017. According to preliminary export data for 2018, the export value may have reduced by 0.7 billion ISK from 2017. In 2018, 95% of salmon was exported whole, 4% as fillets and the rest as live fish and juvenile fish. Of trout, arctic char and rainbow trout, 45% was exported whole and 55% as fillets.

Table 3 Export value of aquaculture 2008-2018 (tonnes/billion ISK)
Species Unit 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018*
All species Quantity 2,129 1,983 1,809 2,289 4,011 3,754 4,504 5,555 9,692 14,765 14,087
Value 1.8 2.7 2.8 3.3 4.7 4.9 5.4 7.0 9.6 13.7 13.1
Salmon Quantity 232 364 380 462 1,791 1,192 1,621 2,089 5,526 8,691 9,636
Value 0.5 1.1 1.1 1.2 2.4 2.3 2.5 3.3 5.6 8.3 8.8
Trout Quantity 1,837 1,598 1,361 1,720 2,006 2,355 2,814 3,306 3,602 4,795 3,037
Value 1.2 1.6 1.5 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.9 3.6 3.6 4.5 3.4
Other species Quantity 60 20 67 107 213 206 69 160 563 1279 1412
Value 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.9 0.8

Export of salmon in 2017 was mainly to the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Arctic char has mainly been exported to the United States, Poland, Japan and Germany.

In comparison with other European countries, the Icelandic aquaculture production was small in 2016. Salmon production is significantly more in France, Ireland, Norway and the UK, while Iceland is the biggest producer of arctic char and Sweden is the next in line.

Table 4a Salmon farming in Europe 2008-2016 (tonnes)
Country 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
UK 128,744 144,663 154,633 158,310 162,547 163,518 179,397 172,146 163,135
Denmark 11 2 3 .. 0 .. 394 420 1,279
Ireland 9,218 12,210 15,691 12,195 12,440 9,125 9,368 13,116 16,300
Iceland 292 714 1,068 1,083 2,923 3,018 3,965 3,260 8,420
Norway 737,694 862,908 939,575 1,065,975 1,232,095 1,168,324 1,258,356 1,303,346 1,233,619
Poland .. .. .. 43 18 0 0 4 272
Table 4b Farming of Arctic char in Europe 2008-2016 (tonnes)
Country 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Austria 13 44 45 116 120 142 151 208 193
UK .. 9 14 13 11 11 10 11 17
Iceland 3,124 2,405 2,427 3,021 3,089 3,215 3,411 3,937 4,084
Italy 61 63 135 99 148 165 16 33 ..
Norway 468 421 492 276 309 281 285 257 333
Sweden 586 .. 1,307 1,128 1,849 1,808 1,644 1,675 1,760

Statistics

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