Benchmark Genetics services

Our external genetics services branded as Akvaforsk Genetics. The line of services provided is described as a three-step-model: 1. Broodstock Management: A service to optimize the broodstock management. 2. Establishment of breeding program: A service to support the establishment of well-designed selective breeding programs. 3. Support and development of breeding programs: A service to support established selective breeding programs. 

Upon request we can offer individual screenings of the parent broodfish of the shipped eggs. The screenings are done by independent officially certified laboratories. Individual screenings can be done for IPNv, PD, ISAv and CMS and the bacterial disease (BKD). No Salmon virus diseases have ever been found at Stofnfiskur or in Iceland. Individual screenings need to be specifically requested when orders are made.

We can deliver Atlantic salmon ova 52 weeks a year! We can produce and deliver every week of the year because all off our fish are raised on land and in house. This gives us complete control of all environmental factors and guarantees spawning in every week of the year. We are extremely proud of being the only company in the world that is able to ship eggs every week of the year.

Know your eggs and where they have been. According to Icelandic Legislation all eggs produced from the 1st of January 2015 for the Icelandic market have to be traceable back to clients. DNA samples are taken from all broodfish enabling us to trace every single individual back to its parent broodstock. In the case of escapes, this can be done on request for all customers. In addition to DNA traceability our production system is fully traceable; we can trace all batches back to their parents as eggs.

We operate under strict surveillance of the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authorities (MAST) who issue all our health certificates for export. We also have several officially certified management systems in place so importation of our products should be very easy. Today (2016) we successfully export salmon eggs to 20 different countries.

In Norway and in Chile we offer a full import and delivery service where we take care of all shipment details and paperwork. The boxes of salmon eggs are delivered hassle free to our customers’ hatchery sites, as easy as if they were supplied from one of the local production units. In Norway we do this through our sister company, SalmoBreed; when SalmoBreed customers purchase eggs from StofnFiskur, SalmoBreed will be the responsible supplier and customer contact.

Our support does not end when the eggs are delivered. We keep in contact and follow up on the performance through hatching, start feeding and on-growing phases of the fish. In addition to being your support this feedback also helps us to improve future year classes and benchmark our stock between different environments. A minimum sample of 0.1% of all shipments is kept in our incubation centre for monitoring until ready to start feed, these are called Control Groups. The data and results from our Control Groups helps us to identify any problems that arise with our customers. The accumulated results from our control groups for each stripping season is also our production performance measurement tool.