Aquaculture & fish farming

01Overview and value chain

Markers: [EC: EU Strategic Guidelines for Aquaculture + China 14th Five-Year marine-ranching plan | OECD: Agricultural biotechnology, Sustainable land use | Regulator: FDA (USA), EFSA (EU), MOA (China)]

Aquaculture & fish farming is the farm-raised production of aquatic protein — Atlantic salmon in marine net-pens, land-based recirculating (RAS) salmon, tropical Vannamei shrimp ponds and Chinese marine ranches of scallops and sea cucumber. It has surpassed wild catch as the primary source of seafood and is the fastest-growing food-production sector on earth. Mowi, the world’s largest salmon farmer, turned over EUR 5.73 billion in 2025 on 559,000 tonnes of harvest and guides 605,000 tonnes for 2026 (~3.5 billion meals); aquafeed is the central cost and sustainability lever, with BioMar moving 1.56 million tonnes of feed in 2025. The US imports ~96% of its salmon, so land-based RAS aims to displace imports — though 2026 has exposed acute capital stress in that segment.

The key directions of aquaculture & fish farming are:

1. Marine net-pen salmon farming (Net-Pen Salmon Farming): open-ocean pens in Norway, Chile, Scotland, Canada — Mowi farms 7 regions and expects 605,000 t in 2026 (+8.3% YoY).
2. Land-based recirculating aquaculture (RAS) salmon (RAS Land-Based Salmon): indoor closed-loop tanks near end-markets — Atlantic Sapphire’s Bluehouse in Homestead FL is the world’s largest, targeting 25,000 t in Phase 2.
3. Tropical shrimp pond aquaculture (Tropical Shrimp Ponds): Litopenaeus vannamei in India, Ecuador, China — India’s Avanti Feeds sold 16,976 t of processed shrimp in FY26 (+20%) and BioMar’s shrimp feed grew 31%.
4. Marine ranching & restoration aquaculture (Marine Ranching): seabed ranching of scallops, sea cucumber, abalone — Zhangzidao holds 2,000 km² of sea area, including Asia’s largest national marine-ranch demonstration zone.

Sectoral value chain

[broodstock & smolt] ──> [aquafeed] ──> [grow-out farming] ──> [harvest & primary]
                                 │
                       (net-pen / RAS / pond / marine ranch)
                                 │
                                 ▼
[retail & export] <─── [value-added & prefab] <─────┘

Value chain levels

Cross-cutting technologies of the sector:

• Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS): land-based closed-loop water filtration enabling cold-water fish near end-markets, biosecure and zero-wild-contact.
• Extruded aquafeed with functional additives (Functional Aquafeed): phytocomplexes (Skretting Necto/Lorica) and immunonutrition to cut fishmeal dependence and antibiotics.
• Selective breeding & genomics (Selective Breeding): family-based breeding programs raising growth rate, disease resistance and feed-conversion ratio.

02US

The US is the world’s largest salmon consumer yet imports ~96% of its supply — making land-based RAS and genetic innovation the import-displacement bets, though 2026 has been brutal for both.

land-based RAS salmon scale-up, GE-salmon market rejection, capital stress

• Atlantic Sapphire (Bluehouse): the world’s largest land-based salmon farm in Homestead, FL (founded 2010), Phase-1 capacity 7,500–8,500 t/yr; Q1 2026 harvest 1,504 t HOG (+27% QoQ) at USD 9.32/kg — but the company entered a restructuring agreement in May 2026 after a $10M bridge loan (12% interest, 15% origination fee) and faces proposed delisting from Oslo Børs.
• AquaBounty Technologies (NASDAQ:AQB): its AquAdvantage GE salmon — the first genetically engineered food animal, FDA-approved in 2015 — was rejected by 80+ retailers (Walmart, Costco, Sodexo, Aramark) and AquaBounty shut its last farm (Bay Fortune, PEI) in December 2024; Q1 2026 net loss $1.2M on $441k cash, with cumulative losses of $389M and a going-concern warning.
• Takeaway: the US import-displacement thesis is intact strategically but unproven financially — RAS capital intensity and consumer rejection of GE fish have so far blocked commercial scale.

03CN

China is the world’s largest aquaculture producer by volume, but its listed leaders are in deep restructuring as shrimp/tilapia prices stay depressed.

shrimp/tilapia processing scale, marine-ranching restructuring, prefab-seafood pivot

• Guolian Aquatic (国联水产, SZSE:300094): China’s shrimp/tilapia processing leader (Zhanjiang); 2025 revenue ¥3.19 bn (-6.45%) with a net loss of -¥1.631 bn as the aqua-food margin collapsed to -6.35% (from 9.95%) and debt ratio hit 95.99%; pivoting to prefabricated seafood (虾王传奇, 文和友 partnership) and secured ~¥100M from the Zhanjiang Marine No.1 fund.
• Zhangzidao (獐子岛, SZSE:002069): Dalian state-controlled marine-ranch operator; 2025 revenue ¥1.278 bn (-19.25%) but the net loss narrowed 50.91% to -¥10.76M and Q1 2026 returned to profit; its Yezo scallop core held at ¥219M (-1.64%) across a 2,000 km² sea area including 940 km² of Asia’s largest national marine-ranch demonstration zone; 2026 target ≥¥1.7 bn revenue and positive net profit.
• Market context: China’s 2026 Vannamei output is projected to exceed 2.6 million tonnes with imports over 900,000 t, keeping domestic shrimp prices under pressure.

04EU

Europe is the profitable core of global salmon farming and aquafeed, with Norwegian incumbents posting records and a major feed IPO in 2026.

salmon incumbency + record profitability, feed consolidation + IPO, Mowi–Skretting integration

• Mowi ASA (OSE:MOWI): the world’s largest salmon farmer; 2025 record turnover EUR 5.73 bn on 559,000 t (+11.4%), full-year operational EBIT EUR 727M (ROCE 13.3%); Q1 2026 revenue EUR 1,544.2M (+14%) and harvest 136,477 t (+26%); 2026 harvest guidance 605,000 t and feed sales guidance 650,000 t (+11%).
• Skretting (Nutreco): launched Necto, Lorica and Optiline health diets with EDGEOS PhytoComplexes; cut Scope 1+2 emissions 40% (vs 2018) and feeds ~25M seafood meals/day; its December 2025 feed partnership with Mowi is targeted to save Mowi >NOK 650M/yr.
• BioMar Group (CPH:BIOMAR): the world’s #3 aquafeed producer by volume; 2025 feed volume 1.56M t (+13%, shrimp +31%) on revenue DKK 16.53 bn ($2.42 bn) and ROIC 23.6%; IPO on Nasdaq Copenhagen on 28 May 2026 at DKK 108/share (market cap DKK 10.85 bn), the sector’s flagship 2026 capital-markets event.

05Leading companies and research institutes

India anchors the tropical-shrimp export trade through Avanti Feeds (BSE:512573), a vertically integrated “farm-to-fork” operator collaborating with Thai Union; FY26 consolidated revenue reached ₹6,066 crore (+8%) with net profit ₹657 crore and an operating margin that expanded to 12% (from 9% in FY24), on 567,986 t of feed and 16,976 t of processed shrimp (+20%, ~68% of it to North America), nearly debt-free with ROCE 22.3%.

06Tech stack and innovations

The stack rests on three production platforms: marine net-pens, land-based RAS, and tropical ponds/marine ranches.

1. Marine net-pen salmon farming (Net-Pen Salmon Farming):
   • circular open-ocean pens grow salmon from smolt to ~5 kg across 12–18 months in Norway, Chile, Scotland, Canada and the Faroes.
   • case: Mowi farms seven regions, with Q1 2026 EBIT/kg of EUR 2.40 (Norway), EUR 1.50 (Scotland) and EUR 0.35 (Chile); blended farming cost fell to EUR 5.46/kg.
2. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) on land (RAS Land-Based):
   • indoor closed-loop tanks biofilter and reuse >99% of water, enabling cold-water salmon near the US consumer with zero wild contact; capital intensity is ~12× net-pen.
   • case: Atlantic Sapphire’s Homestead Bluehouse drills to 1,200/1,800 ft for optimal salinity and ships ~300,000 lb/week — but Phase-1 economics are unproven, hence the May 2026 restructuring.
3. Tropical shrimp pond & marine-ranch aquaculture (Pond & Marine Ranch):
   • Vannamei shrimp ponds (India/Ecuador/China) and seabed marine ranches (China scallop/sea cucumber) rely on formulated feed and selective breeding.
   • case: Avanti Feeds’ 16,976 t of processed shrimp (+20%) and Zhangzidao’s 2,000 km² marine-ranch footprint anchor the tropical/restoration segment.

07Value chains and production pipelines

Industrial pipeline of a salmon-farming + feed operation (ASC / BAP / EU Aquaculture Guidelines)

┌───────────────────────────┐      ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Broodstock & smolt     │ ───> │ 2. Aquafeed manufacture   │
└───────────────────────────┘      └───────────────────────────┘
                                                  │
                                                  ▼
┌───────────────────────────┐      ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 4. Harvest & primary      │ <─── │ 3. Grow-out farming       │
└───────────────────────────┘      └───────────────────────────┘
              │
              ▼
┌───────────────────────────┐      ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 5. Value-added & prefab   │ ───> │ 6. Cold-chain & export    │
└───────────────────────────┘      └───────────────────────────┘

Stage 1: Broodstock & smolt production

Selective-breeding programs supply eggs and fry; Mowi and Skretting run family-based nucleus herds lifting growth rate and disease resistance, producing smolt for sea transfer and post-larvae for shrimp ponds.

Stage 2: Aquafeed manufacture

Extruded feed blends fishmeal, soymeal and functional additives; BioMar and Skretting each move well over a million tonnes a year, with Skretting’s EDGEOS PhytoComplexes and Necto/Lorica health diets cutting fishmeal and antibiotic dependence.

Stage 3: Grow-out farming

Smolt reach market size in marine net-pens (Mowi, 12–18 months), indoor RAS tanks (Atlantic Sapphire) or tropical shrimp ponds (Avanti, Guolian) and marine ranches (Zhangzidao); biology — algae blooms, disease — remains the swing factor.

Stage 4: Harvest & primary processing

Fish are slaughtered and processed to head-on-gutted (HOG) form; Mowi’s Q1 2026 harvest of 136,477 t was a record for the quarter, while Atlantic Sapphire reached an average HOG weight of 3.2 kg.

Stage 5: Value-added & prefab processing

HOG product is filleted, portioned or turned into prefabricated ready meals; Mowi Consumer Products moved 70,000 t in Q1 2026 (+21%), and Guolian is pivoting its shrimp into 虾王传奇-style prefabricated seafood for foodservice.

Stage 6: Cold-chain distribution & export

Chilled/frozen product reaches retail and foodservice; Avanti ships ~68% of processed shrimp to North America, Mowi’s geographic mix is Europe 67.9% / Americas 20.5% / Asia 9%, and China imports >900,000 t of shrimp a year to close its domestic gap.