Stingray CEO says closed cages no threat as lice laser rollout gathers pace.
Stingray Marine Solutions has almost doubled cumulative production of its lice-zapping laser nodes in the space of a year, as the Norwegian technology supplier steps up plans to expand its share of the domestic salmon market.
When Novo Holdings agreed to acquire a majority stake in Stingray in 2024, the company had produced around 1,750 laser nodes in total. According to an interview with Norwegian publication iLaks, that figure has now risen to 3,063 units, reflecting accelerated output following investment in a second factory and new production lines.
Chief executive John Arne Brevik told iLaks that Stingray’s lasers are now installed at roughly a quarter of Norwegian fish farming locations and that the company expects this penetration to increase to around 35 percent within the next year. The company already protects tens of millions of salmon and trout in Norway and Iceland, and previously indicated that expanded capacity could push coverage towards 100 million fish.
Brevik said he does not see the growth of closed cages or land-based farming as a direct threat to Stingray’s prospects. Instead, he argued that Norway’s ability to operate open cages in the Gulf Stream remains a structural cost advantage for the industry, and that license holders would be reluctant to walk away from the asset base built up over generations in open net-pen farming.
Stingray’s management expects closed, semi-closed and land-based systems to sit alongside traditional sea cages rather than replace them. In the interview, Brevik outlined a production model in which post-smolt of around one kilogram are grown in closed or land-based systems before being transferred to open cages for a further 10–12 months at sea, increasing turnover and total output.
