A Norwegian Industry Fairytale
Growth and Innovation for Over 40 Years
In a seaplane, packed in plastic bags with water, the first salmon arrived at Lovund. It arrived in July 1972 and the obstacles were many in the first years and only 174 of the first 1200 young fish survived! Researchers were in doubt, but founder Steinar Olaisen had strong faith in the project. Together with his two closest friends, he worked day in and day out with countless experiments and trials.
His motivation was first and foremost the wish to reverse the trend of depopulation and a strong depression in local trade and industry. Local fishing industries were struggling, and there was little optimism amongst the population of the island community. Today of course, the rewards of the years of struggle are easy to see. Optimism is in full bloom!
Honesty and Integrity
Steinar Olaisen was one of Norway’s pioneers in salmon farming and the founder of Nova Sea AS. Sadly, he passed away the summer of 2011. Even after his passing, Nova Sea AS is still managed according to his life philosophy of honesty, integrity and moderation, with full focus on quality. His dream is now supported by a team of employees that over the course of 40 years have acquired a wealth of experience and expertise in this demanding field.
Four Founding Companies
Today’s Nova Sea AS has its origins in four key salmon companies in Helgeland: The fish-farming company Seafarm Invest and the salmon harvest station Nova Sea at Lovund, Torris Products at Halsa in Meløy and Marine Harvest at Bolga in Meløy. Three of the four founding companies were amongst the first salmon farming companies in Nord-Helgeland, and commenced operation as early as 1972. The original Nova Sea AS was established as a fishing industry company in 1985 at Naustholmen, Lovund. Development since then has been nothing less than incredible. In the early days production was centred on Saithe filleting and the production of white-meat salmon mince, slaughtering/packing and sales/exports of salmon. Naustholmen Fryseri AS was established at the same location in 1989, and the packing and freezing capacity was greatly increased. From 1994 the company concentrated solely on the harvest /packing and deep-freezing of salmon.
From Seafarm Invest to Nova Sea
The investment company Seafarm Invest was established in 1991 as a separate company for the acquisition of salmon farming licenses. In 1997 the acquired companies were merged into the parent company, and from the same year Seafarm Invest could be considered purely as a fish-farming company. Hydro Seafood AS (Marine Harvest Norway AS) came in as co-owners in the mid-1990s. During the same period Nova Sea AS and Naustholmen Fryseri merged into a single company. In the autumn of 2006 the boards of the old Nova Sea AS and Seafarm Invest AS voted to merge the two companies. The new company kept the already familiar name; Nova Sea AS.
Value Chain
Broodstock
In collaboration with Nordlaks, Cermaq and Aquagen, Nova Sea has established a production of brood in northern Norway. The broodstock company is Nordnorsk Stamfisk and this helps secure our stock of roe. Roe production in northern Norway offers greater availability, flexibility and biosecurity.
Smolt
Nova Sea is the majority owner of Sundsfjord Smolt. The facility was finished in 2010 and has a capacity of 13 million smolt per year. In addition, the facility Helgeland Smolt in Rødøy is now finished, and delivered smolt for the first time in 2016. This facility has authorization for 8 million smolt at 250 grams. The facility also developes smolt at over 500 grams.
Farming
We have fish farms spread down the coast of beautiful Helgeland, from Vega in the south to Gildeskål in the north. The farms are located in fjords and out at sea. The Helgeland coast is a perfect location for fishfarming with it’s temperatures, open spaces and currents. Nova Sea has about 25 production sites with around 100 men and women working each day to produce the best salmon in the world!
Wellboat
In July 2017 a wellboat was delivered to Nova Sea Service AS, which is owned by Nova Sea AS. The wellboat is named after our dear founder; "Steinar Olaisen". The boat has a capacity of 540 tonnes live salmon, it is arranged for open and closed transport, sorting, transport of smolt, delousing and UV-treatment with circulation water.
Packing Facility
Our packing facility on Lovund has a capacity of 300 tons of fresh fish and 30 tons filets per day. The facility is newly renovated and modern, and it is the work place for more than 100 people.
Processing
In 2014 we began to use our new filleting line for production of pre-rigor filets. The filets unique freshness makes the product very desirable for the quality conscious consumer.
Market
We have our own sales department, which sells all of Nova Sea’s salmon to destinations all over the world. In addition, we are partial owners of Alex Sushi’s two restaurants in Oslo, making Nova Sea fully integrated – from roe to table!