CODFARMERS AND MARINE BREED ENTER STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

CODFARMERS AND MARINE BREED ENTER STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

Today, Codfarmers ASA and Marine Breed AS signed
an agreement concerning the keeping of brood
stock, purchase of Marine Breed genetic material
as well as a wider strategic cooperation.

According to the agreement, Codfarmers will
establish their own brood stock line with fish
from the Marine Breed genetic program. The aim is
to develop a cod especially adapted to the
favourable natural conditions for the effective
farming of Atlantic cod in Northern Norway.
Codfarmers` integrated juvenile facility in
Mørkvedbukta outside Bodø, will thus become one of
Marine Breed`s three locations for producing cod
eggs and the only one in Northern Norway.

`With this agreement the last bits in our value
chain are eventually falling into place. The
Marine Breed research environment is world leading
when it comes to breeding programs for aqua
culture in general and for cod in particular.
Improved growth through systematic breeding is our
most important strategy to reduce production costs
similar to what we have experienced with salmon
previously. Marine Breed`s genetic material is
simply the best in the market. The agreement also,
gives us the opportunity to establish a fully
integrated brood stock and juvenile facility,`
says Øystein Steiro, the CEO of Codfarmers.

`This is an important agreement to us. Cod farming
will become a large industry in Norway. With this
agreement we secure our production due to the fact
that we now can deliver cod eggs from three
different production sites, i.e. from our own
facility in Sunndalsøra, from the facility of
Havlandet in Florø and from Codfarmers` new
facility in Northern Norway. It is important to
spread the production risk and obviously it is
important to have our own production in Northern
Norway, most likely the region that will take the
lead in the development of cod farming as an
industry in the future,` says Tormod Spjøtvold,
Managing director in Marine Breed.



For further information, please contact:
Øystein Steiro, CEO, Codfarmers: + 47 90775395