Faroese salmon producer still battling bacterial outbreak

The salmon farming company Bakkafrost has not yet contained an outbreak of pasteurella skyensis, a bacterial infection that caused major financial losses in Scotland and was detected in its Lambavík facility last autumn, Faroese broadcaster KVF reports.

Marner Nolsøe, a veterinarian at Bakkafrost, confirmed that while the situation has improved and mortality rates are now low, the bacteria remains present in the system. The outbreak was first confirmed at the Lambavík site in October, following multiple incidents of infected fish.

The same bacterial strain previously cost Bakkafrost between four and five billion krona when its Scottish subsidiary, Scottish Salmon Company—acquired in 2019—faced one of Scotland’s largest fish health crises. The company had funded the purchase partly through a new share issue.

In a recent interview with KVF, Bakkafrost CEO Regin Jacobsen acknowledged that turning around the Scottish operation has taken longer than expected.