Quality fish for 70 years

Olav Svendsen was little more than a boy when, as a 14-year-old, he participated in receiving seaweed and kelp on the quays at home in Øklandsvågen in 1937. His father, Ole Svendsen, realised his son had a knack for buying and selling, and Olav was soon made responsible for the receipt of wild salmon and lobster, which had formed the basis of business in the old trading town of Øklandsvågen for several centuries. In 1946, a major expansion began and the business moved across the bay to Kvednavikjo.

Ung Olav Svendsen

In the post-war years, Bremnes Fryseri – the parent company of Bremnes Seashore – received mackerel and bought equipment for a cannery, and began packing mackerel roe into cans. They also received prawns, crab, tuna and coley. The big spiny dogfish adventure began in the mid-1950s and would last almost 30 years. Apart from salmon, the spiny dogfish was the most important product in the development and success of Bremnes Fryseri. More spiny dogfish was landed at Kvednavikjo than anywhere else in the world.

Throughout the 1950s, Olav Svendsen tried to hatch brown trout. The hatching was a success. The fry emerged and lived off the yolk sac. However, they got no further than that as specialist feed was not yet available on the market.

It was only in the 1960s that the hatching of roe at Goddo and the farming of edible fish in an enclosed bay outside of Øklandsvågen became a success. This activity formed the basis for both further growth and eventually the establishment of Bremnes Seashore. Today, Torbjørg and Olav Svendsen Senior’s heirs own the company. They have taken a firm grip and continued to build on the go-ahead spirit and enthusiasm of the founder. It has yielded results. Since starting out with rainbow trout in the 1960s, Bremnes Seashore has undergone massive development. What began as something small has grown into something very big, and Bremnes Seashore has become one of the largest privately owned salmon farming businesses in Norway.