scallops, oysters, abalone, and seaweed over an eight-kilometer area.
In the western world, Canada and
the US have also improved its commercial production methods. The
Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic
Aquaculture Network has recently
established a project on Vancouver
Island growing finfish, seaweed,
mussels, scallops and sea cucumbers. In the US, a skin care company has partnered with the University in Washington to grow red algae
for their products using shared seawater from halibut and cod farming.
Sustainable Fish Farming:
The challenge of rising fish feed
and sea lice costs is stimulating
new sustainable technology solutions in Norwegian aquaculture. In
the future, producers might raise
salmon in egg-shaped offshore
farms. Closed cage farming, which
is still only on an experimental level
in Norwegian coastal waters, might
be the solution for the control of
sea lice on salmon. Since its establishment in 2015, NOFIMA and its
partners at the Centre of Researchbased Innovation in ClosedContainment Aquaculture have
been working with research projects in land-based RAS and floating semi-closed containment systems at sea with Nekton Havbruk,
FishGLOBE, Aquafarm Equipment,
Lerøy Seafood Group’s Preline,
MSC Aqua’s Aquadome, and Grieg
Seafood, among others.
Functional Fish Feeds
One Norwegian company that is
close to getting a closed farming
concept commercialized is Hauge
Aqua. The past February the company signed a development agreement with Marine Harvest, the
world’s largest producer of Atlantic
salmon for a floating oval-shaped
enclosed farm called, appropriately
enough, “the Egg”. The proposed
44-meter tall structure will hold up
to 1 000 tons of salmon, the same
volume of fish as a regular 50meter wide net pen. The Egg’s
closed sandwich construction keeps
lice out, while stopping fish escapes. It will also reduce sea lice by
getting water from 20 meters below the surface where lice are less
likely to thrive. Moreover, the contained farm ensures more accurate
automatic feeding in a closed environment, an upstream-water current that keeps pellets closer to the
surface, and a separate intake and
outflow of water that reduces infection pressure.
Improved Biofilter Media
As part of the agreement, Norway’s
Marine Harvest has applied for 14
development concessions, which
are being offered initially at no cost
by the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs to stimulate new large-scale aquaculture
technology that can solve the acreage and environmental challenges
facing t he industry.
Ocean Forest:
The Bellona Foundation announced
on 14 August 2013 the establish-
The EGG
The Hauge Aqua Concept