Blue Frontier Magazine | #1 | 2014

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Blue Frontier

MAGAZINE No 1 | 2014 | NOK 50 | â‚Ź10 | $10 | ÂŁ5

A map for new innovations A more robust salmon with a higher survival rate will be the first gain for the aquaculture industry. The USD 50 million spent on the salmon genome sequence project, published on a conference in Vancouver in June 2014, is expected to return billions on higher sustainability and innovation. PAGE 6-7

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Photographer Gorm K. Gaare shot this picture onboard a fishing vessel during the world’s greatest cod fishery outside Lofoten and Vesterålen in the North of Norway.

Visions for tomorrow

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tavanger 16-18 June 2014: Innovation is at the heart of the AquaVision conference.

According to conference organizer Eivind Helland, there are innovative lessons to learn from LEGO, a company that rewrote innovation rules and conquered the global toy industry, and prof. David Robertson, author of “Brick by Brick” will open the innovation session at AquaVision.

The Oslo based company Stingray Marine Solutions presents a new optical solution to delouse salmon. The laser technology will be commersialized towards the end of 2014.

The theme for AquaVision 2014 is ‘Meeting tomorrow today’, and the two-day programme will discuss three main topics: “Feeding 9 billion people”, “The blue revolution” and “Beyond tomorrow”.

The bi-annual Stavanger conference attracts a diverse range of stakeholders from across the aquaculture industry to Stavanger. The conference, organised

by Skretting and its parent

THE BLUE PLANET

company Nutreco since 1996, is internationally recognised as an important meeting place for some 450 participants from more than 35 countries.

According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, current global food production needs to increase 70 per cent by 2050 in order to feed two billion additional people. The growth of aquaculture will become an increasingly important part of that future food supply, while paying particular attention to environmental concerns.

The biggest challenges in the world today can only be overcome when the big players - governments, corporations and NGOs - find a way to work together strategically. Sir Bob Geldof will delve into this topic in his keynote speech at AquaVision 2014.

Idéas that count

I

t is an impressive amount of new ideas and innovations in the marine sector.

Confereces like Aqua Vision, NASF, Marine Innovation Day and BioMarine Business Convention focus on innovation.

Researchers,scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, solution providers as well as aqaculture giants and investors. All parties has recently received a new tool, released for everybody to explore: The sequenced salmon genome. A map making it possiple to explore new frontiers in aquaculture.

Thanks to the salmon genome mapping by scientists in ccoperation accross oceans and continents, there are allready issues solved. Like defining the DNA markers of the deadly IPN virus.

In this issue of Blue Frontier Magazine we write about innovation as well as money.

Many of the players representing the innovative part of the marine sector could well be expecting an exciting future.

More risk capital available is of course a good, and important, thing. However, at the end of the day it is the creativity and the stayer ability that counts.

Eivind Helland, Blue Planet

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: MAGNE OTTERDAL | PUBLISHER: OBM AS | ORG. NO. 985208301MVA | SUPERVISORY BOARD, BLUE FRONTIER MAGAZINE: ØYSTEIN LIE, CHAIR OFFICE: GAUSTADALLÉEN 21 - 0349 OSLO | TEL: 0047 468 44 123 | EPOST: POST@BLUEFRONTIERMAGAZINE.COM | COPYRIGHT©2012-2014 | PRINT: KRAFT DIGITAL PRINT AS

REINVESTING IN R&D MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

EWOS is a world leader in the research, development and manufacture of feed and nutrition to the international aquaculture industry.

KNOWLEDGE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.

EWOS.COM

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The global umbrella-organization BICA, will aim at upgrading and creating new common denominators to existing networks and clusters, writes Øystein Lie.

Core components in marine innovation substance into these terms. The substance is knowledge and it is all about people at all levels in the value chain or more precisely: value network together with interaction and dialogue between these. Producers, solution providers, R&D entities, public sector, capital and capital and fund managers, creative entrepreneurs, young talents, inspiring communicators, core facilities and innovation centers, clusters and networks.

ØYSTEIN LIE, Executive Manager MarLife, Founder GenoMar, Dean Norwegian University of Life Sci.

M

arine innovation has a clear-cut advantage over other fields in terms of becoming successful: challenge and big challenges.

Challenge is the major driving force in all innovations through history, albeit science and technology progress have been the prerequisites.

We are not just talking challenge but the biggest challenges of mankind: food for the world, health (mal nutrition, life style diseases), energy etc. and the oceans and the aquatic environments harbor all the answers.

But, we also have to optimize our innovation climate.

Innovation climate or “innovation ecosystem” or “innovation coral reef” are terms currently in use now and we need to create

COMMENTARY

I

f we manage to engine and foster new dynamics and synergy in the above virtual construction, we will experience great sustainable advancements in all the marine sectors: fisheries (the new eco fisheries at new trophic levels included), aquaculture, the seafood value chain, marine ingredients and bio prospecting, blue/green cities etc. A newcomer that may pave the way for this “new deal” is the recently established BioMarine International

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Picture: BICA-founders Pierre Erwes (left) and Øystein Lie.

Algae in the desert forest Photo: MAGNE OTTERDAL

Cluster Association (BICA). The global umbrella-organization, BICA, will aim at upgrading and creating new common denominators to existing networks and clusters. It will extend the marine dialogue platform to a global format, interact with capital in a total new manner to enhance the necessary investment rates to reach our goals (visualization of the market and the best investment targets, risk reduction etc) and represent the marine player community when interacting with regulators on establishing new global standards and practices.

M

oreover, the transition of the existing clusters and networks to a common global virtual family will strengthen the innovation dynamics which has proven successful in all knowledge intensive clusters: the crucial interaction between demanding producers and creative solution providers which otherwise will be rendered weak at regional or national levels.

Challenging but still simple. To innovation the major components are: • •

Challenge Innovation climate

One needs these critical components and format in place with corresponding dynamics, to make innovation happen!

An unexpected algal resident that turned up in a forest project in the Quatar, could become an important step to large-scale algae cultivation of the world. The algae has high tolerance to heat and salt and is a fast grower that could be suitable for marine food production.

Text: DAG YNGLAND Photo: SAHARA FOREST PROJECT

The exciting algae strain, discovered last summer, is now being analyzed at Duke University by Professor Zackary Johnson as part of a U.S. Department of Energy collaboration to develop algae production for biofuels and animal feeds.

Large scale If this analysis shows that, in addition to having high tolerance to heat and salt, the algae are fast growers suitable for biofuel production, the strain could open new regions of the world to large-scale algae cultivation.

-The careful research that will give us a full understanding of the strain and its potential is just beginning, and we look forward to learning more in the coming year”, says Virginia L. Corless, Science & Development Manager of The Sahara Forest Project.

The Sahara Forest Project aims at establishing vegetation in arid areas and reverse the trend of desertification. The Sahara Forest Project is a pilot facility in Qatar in partnership between Yara International ASA, Qatar Fertilizer Company (Qafco) and The Sahara Forest

Project. The project uses solar thermal energy technology to create cooling and distilate fresh water through the evaporation of saltwater.

The Sahara Forest Project’s aim is to restiore vegetation in arid areas and reverse the trend of desertification. Marine microalgae grow prolifically in the world’s oceans and seas. Their ability to grow very quickly without using any freshwater, make them a promising candidate for next generation biofuels. It could replace fossil fuels for planes, ships, trucks, and cars on large scales without competing with global food production.

Algae cultivation is a part of the Sahara Forest Project’s saltwater infrastructure, and three specially-built ponds were put in service at the pilot to cultivate species already identified as having promise for commercialization.

Unique synergies The serendipitous algae discovery at the Sahara Forest Project’s pilot facility in Qatar is a prime example of the innovation that arises from bringing together systems and scientists from different disciplines. Without the presence of scientists with expertise in algae, the bloom would not have been taken note of. The algae might not have been collected for analysis and without the requirements of the Sahara Forest Project’s greenhouses and solar desalination systems for saltwater-based cooling, the salt ponds would never have been built at the facility.

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Salmon genome sparks Great expectations follows the relase of the salmon genome map.

New innovations will follow suit. magne otterdal

A more robust salmon with a higher survival rate will be the first gain for the aquaculture industry.

The USD 50 million spent on the salmon genome sequence project, published on a conference in Vancouver in June 2014, is expected to return billions in the future. ”These results open a wide variety of possibilities for applied research and innovative products and services for the salmon industry in Chile,” says Dr. Marcela Angulo, Head of the Technological Capabilities Department at Chilean Economic Development Agency, Corfo.

“It is a valuable contribution towards a more sustainable aquaculture.” ”The aquaculture industries need to produce healthy food in a sustainable and efficient manner to be in line with the consumer demands. The knowledge of the sequence will certainly give us a long awaited

The Sequencing Project The International Cooperation to Sequence the Atlantic Salmon Genome (ICSASG) will produce a genome sequence that identifies and physically maps all genes in the Atlantic salmon genome and acts as a reference sequence for other salmonids. The motivation for this is to better understand the biology of Salmonids as it relates to sustainable aquaculture, conservation of wild fish and aquatic health among other things. The White Paper describing the sequencing project can be found here.

The International Cooperation to Sequence the Atlantic Salmon Genome (ICSASG) is supported by the following organizations: Research Council of Norway (RCN) - www.rcn.no Norwegian Seafood Research Fund-FHF http://www.fhf.no/hot-topics/about-fhf/ Genome BC - www.genomebc.ca The Chilean Economic Development Agency – CORFO and InnovaChile Committee www.english.corfo.cl NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences http://www.nmbu.no Marine Harvest, AquaGen, Cermaq and Salmobreed provide support through the FHF

tool to achieve this,” says Petter Arnesen, Breeding Director of Marine Harvest, Norway.

Global access to the salmon genome map will in the short term lead to increased survival of farmed salmon, according to Odd Magne Rødseth, COB of Aqua Gen and Group Director, Aquaculture at EW Group GmbH. ”We still have a loss of around 15 per cent in 14-16 months the salmon stays in the sea water, and there are a huge improvement potential. It should be possible to reduce the loss closer to 5 per cent,” Rødseth says.

The use of new knowledge and technology based on the salmon genome will in the longer term help to solve big issues in the salmon industry; 1) Genetical interaction, 2) Sea lice, 3) Become less dependent on marine raw material in feed production It was The International Cooperation to Sequence the At-

- A long awaited tool

Petter Arnesen

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innovation frenzy According to the chairman of AquaGen, Odd Magne Rødseth, there are a huge potential to further reduce the loss of salmon in sea from around 15 per cent today closer to 5 per cent. Exploring the genome map will make this possible.

lantic Salmon Genome (ICSASG) that announced the completion of a fully mapped and openly accessible salmon genome. This reference genome provides crucial information to fish managers to improve the production and sustainability of aquaculture operations, and address challenges around conservation of wild stocks, preservation of at-risk fish populations and environmental sustainability. The breakthrough was announced at the International Conference on Integrative Salmonid Biology (ICISB) in Vancouver June 1012, 2014.

Salmonids are key species for research and while some salmon genetic information is known, many fundamental questions have remained: a fully assembled reference sequence available for researchers worldwide will have a major impact on revealing information about salmon and other salmonids, such as rainbow trout and Pa-

Steinar Bergseth

- Targeted treatment is much closer

cific salmon.Viruses and pathogens are a challenging hazard to livelihoods and economies dependent on salmon and this sequence provides real support to improve the production of salmonids in a sustainable way.

Other benefits of the salmon sequence include applications for food security and traceability and broodstock selection for commercially important traits.

Healthier food, more environmentally sound fish farming and better interactions with wild salmon are all positive outcomes from this research.

“Knowledge of the whole genome makes it possible to see how genes interact with each other, and examine the exact gene that governs a certain trait such as resistance against a particular disease,” says Dr. Steinar Bergseth, Chair of the International Steering Committee for the ICSASG. “The development of vaccines and targeted treatment is much closer.”

The international collaboration involves researchers, funding bodies and industry from Canada, Chile and Norway.

The successful completion of the salmon genome provides a basis for continued partnerships between these and other countries involved in research and industrial development of salmonids.

“A better scientific understanding of this species and its genome is a critical step towards improving the growth and management of global fisheries and aquaculture,” says Dr. Alan Winter, President & CEO of Genome BC. “Additionally, the level of international collaboration seen in this project is a testament to the importance of global coordination to address challenges too big for any one country individually.”

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A story about global inno

Innovation has no borders. The picture above tells a story about the marine innovation flow between the continents, over the oceans. It is a story about senior players in the marine sector meeting and making waves together. magne otterdal

- I want to bring the Norwegian cod to China. The Singaporebased entrepreneur Mr. TK Lim (73) was crystal clear about his intentions visiting Norway the winter of 2013.

Assisted by Rita Westvik, Futurama, he travelled the coast of Norway and met entrepreneurs, innovators and producers in the Atlantic seafood industry.

He came to the district of Helgeland, where the Golf stream ends. There, he met the nine years older Mr. Per Remman. He have been innovating farming of cod, transportation and storage methods for live fish.

The two senior innovators, sharing the passion of aquaculture, continue to meet. In the autumn, Mr. Lim came back for new meetings in Norway.

Mr. Lim and Mr. Remman came along very well. They even hugged.

Innovation and meetings The Chinese ambassador to Norway participated in one meeting. Why the ambassador?

Well, the fact is that Mr TK Lim sees the Chinese market for farmed, live cod as the main target. The Chinese consume around 15 kilos of seafood per capita - the highest seafood consumption in the world and rising.

- We can start cod farming within three months, said Mr. Lim at the Marine Innovation Day in Bergen, March 2013.

Then searching for partners in Norway to start the venture A consortium of companies are now working on the plans for big scale cod and salmon farming in the east. The Lim project is about to build an aquaculture farm in Hainan, close to Hongkong, with fertilized cod eggs from Norway.

AquaOptima is in dialogue

with Lim about the cod farm.

The company is a supplier of RAS (recirculation aquaculture systems) and has designed and supplied hatcheries and grow-out land-based farms worldwide for a variety of cold and warm water species. The company has special experience in farming of Atlantic Cod, Atlantic Salmon and Barramundi.

Several other companies have joined, as part of a group of solution providers, to meet the needs of the Lim project.

Increasing demand VuAS has been breeding cod from cod larvae to cod for food the last ten years, at the location on the Norwegian coast.

The company has been developing methods for temporary storing of live seafood for sale, transported in tanks to different companies for sale to customers.

1043 kilometers from the fish farm location at Vikholmen, a gourmet store in Oslo became a partner in testing the concept of

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novation

Innovation winner A new fish vaccine received 100 000 Norwegian kroner as the best innovation case at the Marine Innovation Day 2014.

The researcher collegues Unni Grimholt (UiO) and Helena Hauge (NVI) has developed a fish vaccine principle on the Norwegian plattform of Vaccibody, developing a targeted vaccine based on the fish dna analysis.

Merete Bjørgan Schröder, Research Director at Norwegian Seafood Research Fund, chair of the award jury says the winner is valued on the following three main criteria.

- Potential value to the industry -Success potential - probability of successful commercialization - Innovation level Read our interview with the prize winners at http://bluefrontiermagazine.com This is the list of innovative cases competing in Bergen:

ABOVE: Rita Westvik, Futurama, and TK Lim, Lim Shrimp Organization, at the Marine Innovation Day 2013, a year ago, in Bergen.

Foto: Gorm K. Gaare OPPOSITE PAGE: Visit with the Chinese ambassador to Norway in MarLife Business Center in Oslo, in october 2013. From left, Per Remman, VuAS, Idar Schei, CEO,AquaOptima, TK Lim, COB, Lim Shrimp, Rita Westvik, MoM Common Futures, Ambassador H.E. Zhao Jun, Petter Braathen, Phoenix Ltd. professor Øystien Lie, Djames Lim, CEO, Lim Shrimp Org. and Bendik Rugaas Photo: MarLife

transport and storing of the live cod. Both the store and customers are really happy with this new experience for the seafood industry.

- According to the good result of selling live fish, we already have plans for commercial management, Per Remman says.

Roar Sjåvåg, head of fresh food at the Oslo based gourmet store Jacobs på Holtet, describes the live fish project in this way: “It was a success!”

VuAS now plans to build four new containers at the gourmet store and increase the volume and sale of larger quantities and various species. Jacobs is eager to continue the innovation to meet the increasing demand for high end seafood from the Norwegian coast to the gourmet customers of the capital.

Transfer to China?

The Norwegian innovations are music in the ears to the Singapore-Indonesian aquaculture investor and innovator,

TK Lim. Mr. Lim is also based in Shanghai, in the midst of the world’s fastest growing seafood market. In the late 1990’s Lim Tjoen Kong, born in Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia, retired as head of his family business empire to devote himself fully for his aquaculture passion.

Already in the 1980s he initiated and obtained funding to build the world’s largest integrated shrimp farm stretching 120 square kilometers. The aquaculture activity is run by LIM Shrimp Organization and has built the world’s most advanced shrimp farm i China. The last years TK Lim has worked with scientists around the globe with his project “Aqua-Manufacturing” with the goal to multiply productivity and lower risk in traditional aquaculture.

The cooperation between Mr. Lim, Mr. Remman and the Norwegian consortium is a story about real global innovation and business opportunities.

•••Floating Wind Turbine for Marine Installations Gwind AS http://www.gwind.no •••GroFish Aquaculture Technology Innovative Drug Manufacturing- LLC http://www.aquagreenfoods.com •••Salmon Feed of the future - EWOS Innovation http://www.ewos.com •••Eliminating static electrisity in feed tubes - Arges AS http://www.arges.no •••Optical Delousing - Stingray Marine Solutions AS http://www.stingray.no •••Seafarm Pulse Guard (SPG) SFD AS Harald Bredal •••Making met-ocean data useful - Data Quality Systems http://www.dqs.fo •••Floating Marine Production & Harvest (FMPH) Mood FMPH AS http://moodharvest.no •••Flo Flo service and LFC (live fish carrier) Mood Marine Services AS http://moodharvest.no •••AQUA-USERS - http://www.aqua-users.eu •••AQUAFARMCONTROL - Seafood MANAGEMENT Security AS http://www.seafoodsecurity.

•••Ecofriendly Fungicide - BioCHOS AS www.biochos.com •••WhiteFishMaLL Matis Iceland – funded by Nordic Innovation http://www.whitefishmall.com/ •••Targeted vaccines for aquaculture - Unni Grimholt (UoO) og Helena Hauge (NVI) University of Oslo (UoO) and Norwegian Veterinary Institute •••WhiteFishMaLL Marel ehf http://marel.com •••ScanBio - www.scanbio.com Peter McDonald •••Unique, flexible, controllable, total system for fish farming PRELINE FISHFARMING SYSTEM AS www.preline.no •••Concept transport and storing of live fish - VuAS, Per Johan Remman •••Optimal smolt production and post smolt performance – Grieg Seafood http://www.griegseafood.no •••Aquaponics NOMA , New Innovations for Sustainable Aquaculture in the Nordic countries - Bioforsk •••Software and IT Communication systems - TelCage AS http://www.telcage.com •••Delousing float - (Helix-system) Stranda Prolog AS www.stranda.net •••CFC – Closed flexible cages - Smøla Klekkeri og Settefisk AS http://www.smolaks.no •••Development and production of devices for delousing and video surveillance - Flatsetsund Engineering AS www.fls.no •••Cloth for delousing - Botngaard AS www.botngaard.no •••Silage tanks, deadfish-tanks, bloodwater system Xylem Water Solution Norway www.flygt.no •••Separation av solids, sludge thikening and dewatering Salsnes Filter http://www.salsnes-filter.no •••Future Sea Technologies (SEA System) - AquaGroup AS http://www.akvagroup.com

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Funds are pouring into t Marine Harvest on the NYSE: (From left) Tor Olav Trøim, MOB, Kristine Gramstad, Director of Communications, Leif Frode Onarheim, MOP, Henrik Heiberg, VP Finance and Treasury, Cecilie Fredriksen, MOB, Duncan Niederauer, CEO NYSE, Ole Eirik Lerøy, COB, John Fredriksen, majority owner, Alf-Helge Aarskog, CEO, Ola Helge Hjetland, Communications Manager, Ingrid Erlandsen, IR Contact Manager, Ivan Vindheim, CFO. Photo: Ben Hider

The potential is enormous,

In the future fish for food will be farmed, not caught. Big investors are flocking into the new business, but there are still risks to overcome.

dag yngland

Bluechip companies as well as private investment funds have discovered marine innovation and research, a field traditionally covered by government funding and research institutions.

Now the big players seem to be eager to get involved in the early stages. Collaboration with inventors, entrepreneurs and new solution providers will become the new standard in the marine sector, according to sources in the industry. That might be good news for stressed

- The potential is enormous!

Alf-Helge Aarskog, CEO, Marine Harvest

oceans. But aquaculture has to find a new ways to produce with less environmental destruction, waste, diseases and over-harvesting smaller fish for feeding. New startups in the aquaculture industry are trying to overcome those challenges with better technology and management.

Going for New York When the Norwegian aquamarine company Marine Harvest rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year it was the beginning of a new era for the salmon farming industry.

- This is a big day for Marine Harvest and the salmon farming industry, said Alf-Helge Aarskog, CEO of Marine Harvest,

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the marine sector Blue revolution Marine Harvest has chosen ”Leading the blue revolution” as its vision. The company wants to be a leader in cultivating and growing food from the ocean.

- Our vision is to be “leading the blue revolution” - something similar to what happened 5,000 years ago when the agriculture revolution made people move from hunting and fishing to agriculture. We want to elevate aquaculture to be comparable to agriculture and beyond, Aarskog adds.

Marine Harvest is not the only company in New York that has found a new future in fish.

The charitable foundation of New York City’s former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, recently announced that its Vibrant Oceans Initiative, a $53 million, five-year effort to boost fish populations in Brazil, the Philippines and Chile. Reforming fishing practices in these countries will revitalize 7 percent of the world’s fisheries, according to Vibrant Oceans.

ringing the bell at the NYSE together with Chairman Ole Eirik Lerøy.

Marine Harvest, the world’s leading seafood company, was the first aquaculture company to be listed at the NYSE. The company controls about 22 per cent of the global production of farmed Atlantic salmon, the most industrialized and commercially developed aquaculture specie.

- According to the UN, the world must increase its food production by 70 percent by 2050. As much as 70 percent of the globe is covered by water. Yet, only six percent of the world’s protein supply is sourced from the oceans today.

The potential is enormous, says Aarskog.

Spending USD millions on marine innovation: Michael Bloomberg.

Salmon record The strong market for salmon will produce record high cash flows for Norwegian fish farmers, providing a solid financial platform for high dividends to the shareholders and increased investment activity.

Last year proved to be the best year ever for the fish farming industry in Norway. The seven biggest companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange increased their total revenues with 29 percent to NOK 49 billion due to record high salmon prices, providing a formidable increase in operating income to NOK 7 billion, despite higher costs.

According to analyst Kolbjørn Giskeødeggård at Nordea, the operation profit per kilo amounted to around NOK 11 for companies like Salmar, Lerøy and Norway Royal Salmon, while Marine Harvest had operating profit over NOK 12 per kilo in its Norwegian business.

High ambitions The growth will continue, according to the independent

analysis firm Kontali Analyse, which estimates an increase in the production of gutted Atlantic salmon of five percent this year. Looking at the listed companies, their ambitions are even higher. In their guiding to the investor community, they have estimated an increase in the region of 13-14 percent to over 1 million tons. Norwegian fish farmers will probably deliver most of the expected global growth in the production both this year and next.

Salmon prices are still high and most observers and analysts expect the party to continue, which will provide the fish farmers with continued strong high free cash flows from operations.

Strong dividends In a comprehensive analysis published late last year, analyst Tore Tønseth in Sparebank 1 Markets noted the strong dividend capacity in the sector.

Using EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciations and amortizations) minus capex (capital expenditures) to estimate the free cash flow, Tønseth expects most fish farmers to generate between 30 and 40 percent of their market capitalization in free cash flow during 2014 and 2015.

So while shareholders may expect increased dividends, companies will also likely boost their investments, both in productivity and production.

Marine Harvest, the biggest producer by far in Norway, said it will pursue selective acquisitions both in Norway and Chile in order to substantially increase the global share of production from the current level of 22 about percent.

And while production is increasing, the companies are still fighting costly challenges related to sea lice and various other diseases. So some of the strong cash flows may also be invested in innovative projects and businesses which can help solve some of these challenges.

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The EU has a new strategy - the blue one. The importance of the sea and coastal areas is high on the agenda in the new research and innovation program - Horizons 2020.

The sea is defined as a major source for sustainable food security.

BRUSSELS: Ensuring that all people have access to sufficient, affordable, safe and nutritious food is a key challenge for Europe as well as the world.

The European community has long been a huge producer of agricultural products. The sector employs 17 million people and its exports account for 7 % of total export value among the 28 members.

The “blue economy” - consisting of fisheries, aquaculture, coastal tourism, shipping and new forms of renewable energies represents far less employment - with only 5.4 million jobs. However, it has a gross added value of nearly €500 billion a year.

Blue Growth is the EU-strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole. It recognises that seas and oceans can be stronger drivers for the European economy with great potential for innovation and growth. The potential was highlighted at the launch of Horizons 2020 in Berlin this February. _ Horizon 2020 is set to close the gap between science and innovation. It will be an important contribution to more competetivness and more jobs and wealth in Europe. It will make Europa a more attractive for science and business, promised Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and

...and Europe adds dag yngland

Science at the launch of Horizon 2020 in Berlin in February.

Money for blue growth The new research and innovation program focuses on bringing more value and more jobs through science and research.

Cooperation between universities and business and a focus on practical applications by small and medium sized companies will be encouraged - as well as cross border projects.

The new blue food sector food can profit from two types of

funds. One for sustainable food security (with a 2014 budget of €138 million) and one for unlocking the potential of seas and oceans (2014 budget: €100 million). The aim is to make the blue economy in the EU add two million jobs and reach 7 million people employed in maritime sectors by 2020. This can´t be done with fisheries and aquaculture alone.

However, the different busineses might profit from each other. Production of seafood outside the coastline can profit

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This is Horizon 2020 • Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

• Seen as a means to drive economic growth and create jobs, Horizon 2020 has the political backing of Europe’s leaders and the Members of the European Parliament. They agreed that research is an investment in our future and so put it at the heart of the EU’s blueprint for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs.

• Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simple structure that reduces red tape and time so participants can focus on what is really important. This approach makes sure new projects get off the ground quickly – and achieve results faster.

EUs Director General of SFI, Mark Ferguson, (left), and Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn.

s up public €-billions from cohabitations with other industries. Logistical problems along the coast might be similar to fisheries, aquaculture and coastal tourism.

Might these different industries work together and find some common interests?

The history of producing wind energy far from the coastline is new - however one positive aspect might be that the windparks act as “reefs” - creating more nutrious water areas for some species like lobsters and smaller fishes.

Another common case for cooperation could be logistics both industries using the same means of transport (ships and helicopters) to common service platforms serving energy projects (wind-, wave and tidal energy) as well as fish farms.

Discarding stopped As a sign of the new initiative for more marine sustainabality the Commision as of 1 th January introduced new legislation to ban the wasteful practice of discarding edible fish. The

new policy also includes, for the first time, a legally binding commitment to stop discarding fishing at sustainable levels.

Annual quotas will be governed by scientific advice, to achieve healthy fish stocks and a prosperous fishing industry.

The promotion of sustainable aquaculture also forms part of the new policy.

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Searching for new, blue food solutions blue frontier magazine profile:

Odd Magne Rødseth, EW Group and Aqua Gen. magne otterdal

The neighbour had started hatching of smolts in the basement. It provided a welcome extra job for 15-year-old Odd Magne Rødseth, growing up in the Norwegian west coast village Stranda - where cruise ships pass on their way to the Geiranger fjord.

40 years later he is a global biotech entrepreneur travelling the continents, constantly looking for new solutions to meet one of the world’s major challenge : How to develop production systems for proteins that provide higher yield with less use of raw materials and energy and also reduces pollution. It is about contributing to solutions for sustainable food production for the future. The challenges are enormous, with a world population growing rapidly to ten billion people over the next 40 years.

- It was my neighbor, Lars Opshaug, who gave me the idea to invest my time in knowledge. I got extra work when Opshaug started smolt hatchery in the neighborhood in my native village. It was an incredible amount of sickness and mortality, says Rødseth about how he was inspired to go to the University of Bergen and study microbiology.

Gaining knowledge to meet the problems of disease and mortality in the childhood of aquaculture, when only a fraction of smolts grew up and became mature salmon.

Aqua Gen success The rest is history: With the microbiology as his core knowlede, Røseth has had a career progressing from laboratory and field research on salmon diseases, via years in the pharmaceutical industry to the top job in Aqua Gen. The company, which has its background from Norwegian fish farming cooperatives 40 years back, was acquired in 2007 by German EW Group GmnH. The group is one of Europe’s major poultry breeding companies, headquartered in the German town Visbek, established by entrepreneur Erich Josef Wessjohann. The Aqua Gen product is fertilized salmon eggs, with a specially developed genetics adapted

to meet the requirements of high animal welfare and cost-effective production. Broodstock and eggs are produced at facilities in Norway and Chile. The salmon industry can thank Aqua Gen’s Darwinian approach to the selection of salmon genes as the basis for increasingly lower mortality and higher quality of the salmon - which in turn makes this billion industry even more lucrative for the big farmers.

After ten years as CEO of AquaGen, Rødseth in 2013 was appointed Group Director, Aquaculture, head of the aquaculture division of EW Group GmbH. Rødseth has led the development of Aqua Gen to become the world’s largest and most important supplier of fertilized salmon eggs.

AquaGen delivered robust salmon roe for the NOK 400 million in 2013 , with a profit margin of 25 percent to the German group . With Own Words on LinkedIn Rødseth describes his compentece as follows: “Over 25 years experience leading business strategy, operations, marketing and technical teams, within aquaculture, animal health and genetics business world-wide.

Specialties : Strategic planning with startups, turnarounds and overgrowth Organisation. Innovative development and launch of new products

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and penetration of new markets . Solution selling strategies - knowlegde based value added products. Creating and communication of company image and reputation.”

Rødseth is also Chairman of the Faculty Board of Veterinary Medicine and Biosciences at the new Norwegian Life Sciences University, NMBU .

Entrepreneur As head of the German group aquaculture division he is one of the leading international players in the search for and development of new knowledge-based solutions and businesses in the global marine food sector. One of the tasks is also to lead the expansion of Vaxxinova in Bergen, a sister company to Aqua Gen in the EW group. In Germany Vaxxinova is known as a manufacturer of animal vaccines , and the start-up in Bergen is aimed at the marine sector. The company is partly involved in a project to develop a stronger sterilization vaccine for salmon and other farmed fish.

The vaccine research project was launched in January 2013 and lasts for four years with the following participants: IMR (Chairman), NOFIMA and Universities of Tromsø and Bergen , the University of Utrecht and the Max Planck Institute and four industrial partners ; Aqua Gen , Lerøy

ABOVE: Odd Magne Rødseth is travelling the world, “scouting” for new marine innovations.

Photo: MAGNE OTTERDAL

BELOW: Mr. Rødseth enjoys a meal a the Oslo Central Station sushi of course.

Seafood , Vaxxinova and MSD Animal Health Innovation.

BioVerdi Rødseth is also one of more than 50 partners in the Norwegian BioVerdi project, where the bulk of the nation’s academic institutions and companies from the four major industry sectors, marine, agriculture, health and industry are represented. The project deals with the challenge to create a common basis for a Norwegian bio-economic upsurge, not least to meet declining revenues from the oil industry .

- In the bioeconomy we need more established, robust and viable companies that can develop and adopt new technologies. Startups with poor funding that can not afford to make mistakes in the initial phase, does not have as many chances, says Odd Magne Rødseth .

He believes Norway is struggling with a fundamental problem, lack of ”competent” risk capital and lack of a culture of willingness and patience to develop new business. Too often business with a potential of success are prematurely sold to international corporations before they are fully developed.

- Norwegian knowledge based businesses are

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Odd Magne Rødseth in action, Marine Innovation Day 2013. Photo: Gorm K. Gaare

sold as semi-finished products, says Rødseth . A long list of businesses based on Norwegian research is untimely acquired by international ”big pharma” companies. The BioVerdi project points out that the big pharma companies now have curbed this type of investment and acquisitions in recent years, and the Norwegian bio-economic entrepreneurial projects must be operated up to a greater extent on its own keel. It is seen as a great opportunity to build the bioeconomy in the Norwegian context. The desire of the players in the life science business is to develop projects with similar conditions as “oljemyggene” in the North Sea, where the tax bills are postponed in the development face.

Pull force As such, the salmon industry has been a force on technology, according to Rødseth, thanks to the fact that it’s a prosperous industry. There is an established value chain that has the desire, willingness, and not least the means to develop new technology.

- Thanks to the pull forces from the salmon value chain, we have been able to develop new and innovative breeding technology that has been commercialized in the salmon industry , says the EW Group director who is still close to Aqua Gen, as the company’s chairman .

Rødseth has brought new experience as the business develops and establishes in the German group. He believes that Norwegians can learn from the German technology environment to become more “long term”. In Norway there are very few investors and entrepreneurs willing to join the long travel until one stands with the physical, ready-for-market, product in hand.

- I have seen many innovative technology projects being developed in the Norwegian genetics and pharmaceuticals, where relatively small technological breakthroughs have created some extra value - and then the Norwegians typically

- Feed based on algae are the closest to be an option.

are out to secure a small profit. Investors and entrepreneurs are not risk-averse enough to drive projects through to a finished product than can grow into full bloom in the market, says Rødseth.

Aqua Gene is an example of this trend. The BioVerdi project can help to reverse this. Rødseth is betting that Norway will offer a number of success stories in the years to come. Although Rødseth himself did not become an entrepreneur on his own risk, he is now developing his job in the EW Group as a “scout” in marine bio-economic innovation. He is in the process of building up the marine portfolio, where Aqua Gen is a cornerstone .

- For me shareholdings are not the driving force. The EW Group takes good care of me. Having the ability and financial strength to follow the development and commersialization from idea to market is a dream situation for me. It gives a real kick, says Rødseth .

This interview takes place at the sushi bar Yam Yam right over the airport train terminal at Oslo S a winter Friday before Rødseth heads home to a family weekend in Trondheim. The following Monday: A ten days round trip to the Far East establishing bio-economic contacts with global players.

- We want to transfer and further develop our technology to other markets and value chains in aquaculture, such as tilapia and shrimp farming in Asia.

According to Rødseth the development of the salmon industry points the direction, when it comes to finding other applications of the technology the way our salmon industry has done.

- To produce food to ten billion people by 2050 will not be possible unless we intensify production in a sustainable manner. It must be developed production systems that requires less input for more output, Rødseth says.

Algae and feed Odd Magne Rødseth points out that it’s not just talk about food for humans. But there is also talk about how farmed fish are fed. Using fish from South America as feed for salmon in Norwegian fish farming is unsustainable and provides a lousy CO2 footprint.

- It’s a bad idea to feed fish with fish. We need to find alternative feed ingredients. Feed based on algae are the closest to being an option, says Rødseth .

He points out that algae cultivation, if one finds an energy economical solution, is providing a direct access to non-contaminated omega -3 . Algae cultivation requires a lot of heat and light, and is not yet economical energy in Norway . However, news of positive results of algae growing in the Sahara Forest Project is intriguing. Algae Cultivation in the warm areas of the globe can be an option.

Chasing of new feed ingredients together with environmental footprint and the survival rate for fish are the three main challenges in the farming industry.

- This must be the a challenge for the most innovative companies in the industry to find viable solutions. But we need new tools. What we have in today’s toolbox is not good enough. Our role in this business is to be a pulling force, to find and apply new knowledge to solve the challenges.

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Nofima, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research, founded in 2008, but with a history dating back to 1931. A combination of state ownership by 56,8 percents and by private-public interests, representing 43,2 percents. Photo: Nofima

- Look to other sectors for new ideas!

Blue Frontier Magazine: What is the purpose of Nofima? Øyvind Fylling-Jensen: - We initiate and engage in research, development and innovation in partnership with the Norwegian food, fisheries and aquaculture industries with a focus on industrial value creation along the value chain.

around 100 000 to under 15 000, and the number of fishing vessels where reduced form more than 30 000 to around 10 000. In the same period, the total catch almost doubled to more than 2 500 million tonnes. In the future, further innovation is required to remain and improve sustainable fisheries and quality of seafood.

BFM: How do you define innovation? ØFJ: - Generally, it is about creating new and sustainable growth over time, through businesses from start-up to maturity and again innovate for new growth. The innovation drivers are technology, market and demand in combination with price and costs. Innovation requires both R&D and practical knowledge and approach. Nofima’s focus is on research based practical solutions for innovation.

BFM: Where do you see the biggest innovation opportunities in marine innovation? ØFJ: - Our analysis of the sector shows that innovation has best opportunities in following four areas: Process, product, distribution and finance.

The industry is characterized by a fragmented value chain, small and medium sized enterprises with low capability and spending on research and development. It is high focus on product innovation, but nine out of ten introductions fail in the market. In addition, the use of materials previous considered as waste, better named as rest raw materials, renders a great opportunity of future innovation and value creation.

BFM: Mention some special innovation drivers for the marine sector? ØFJ: - There are many factors, from profitability, consumer trends, value chain power shifts, procurement directives, technology shifts to legislation and NGOs. When it comes to the first point, profitability, you have to be aware of new entrants to the marked, new products, new packaging, new channels, new processes and new technology. Innovation takes place along the whole seafood value chain.

BFM: Examples of innovation in our traditional seafood industry? ØFJ: - The numbers tell the story. From 1950 to 2009 the number of fishermen decreased from

Øyvind Fylling-Jensen CEO, Nofima

Q&A text: magne otterdal

BFM: Is open innovation applicable in the seafood sector? ØFJ: - It is an important tool in the fragmented seafood industry, and innovative cooperation should be applied in areas where competition is of lesser importance. Coopetion is very important in challenges in facing the industry as a whole, i.e. feed, environmental issues, sea lice or escapees.

The effect would be a reduction of risk, reduced costs of innovation, increased innovation speed, improved success rate, broader access to ideas and competence sharing.

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BFM: What is the challenge for the seafood sector in terms of innovation? ØFJ: - The sector has to move from the traditional development model, where the selected projects are developed in own companies, to a model where different strategies lead to increase value creation. The industry has to look to other sectors innovative ideas, i.e. in marketing and use of new technologies.

Blue Frontier Magazine covers global biomarine challenges and innovations.

BFM: Nofima has the last years been challenged by financial turbulence and staff reduction.

What impact has this had on the company’s activity? ØFJ: - The financial stress has led to a more focused organization with a better utilisation of internal resources and increased focus and awareness on our mission of creation values for our customers.

• 1/1 • 1/2 • 1/4 • 1/10

BFM: What is Nofima’s priorities nationally and internationally for the coming years? ØFJ: - Nofima has pinpointed four strategic pillars; related to sustainable food production, food safety, security and health, as well as raw material quality and fish feed development, and last but not least process, product and service innovation.

The high quality Blue Frontier Magazine is published with an international paper/pdf circulation to marine sector VIP’s, companies, research institutions.

The Magazine pdf is distributed globally, promoted through our newsletter, biomarine business networks and social media.

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Controlling more than 50 % of the total European maritime zone, the two small nations Portugal and Norway are maritime giants that now want more marine innovation under the umbrella of EUs blue strategy.

Two small giants at sea dag yngland

Portugese Ambassador to Norway, Clara Nunes dos Santos officially opens MarLife Business Center in Oslo.

MarLife Chairman Carl Seip Hanevold (left) and Øystein Lie, MarLife manager (right).

Photo: Kristin Svorte

to confirm Norway´s strong interest in establishing future collaboration between the two countries.

Explorers and innovators have played main roles in Portugal´s long maritime history. Being hit hard by the recent financial crisis, the country has again turned to the Big Blue for ways to create new growth. Portugal is expected to be one of the main contributors and beneficiaries of new Blue Strategy of the EU. Fisheries, aquaculture, renewable energy and mining are among the projects that are being initiated and backed by the Portuguese government.

Return to the sea - We want to return to the sea for our growth and prosperity, but in a modern and sustainable way, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Assunção Christa stated at a conference in the Portuguese embassy in Oslo.

From Norwegian authorities, State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Trade Dilek Ayhan attended as in order

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Assunção Christa, and Secretary of State of the Sea, Manuel Pinto de Abreu, on a ocean strategy roadshow, starting in Oslo. Photo: Dag Yngland

40 x Portugal Norwegian biomarine and ocean-tech companies are all alert to the potential of the Portuguese initiative. Due to the two archipelagos The Azores and Madeira, Portugal can already claim national jurisdiction to an area 18 times its terrestrial territory.

Due to new UN definitions of the continental shelf, Portugal might soon put forward claims twice as big, resulting in the country´s ocean territories comprising about 40 times the size of the land area, about the size of EU´s land mass and 1 % of the earth´s water surface.

Portugal´s Secretary of State of the Sea, Manuel Pinto de Abreu, presented the Portuguese National Ocean Strategy

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EU eyes the oceans Oceans and seas cover two thirds of the wordls surface. Managed in a responsible manner, they can provide sources of food, medicine and energy while protecting ecosystems for generations to come.

That´s the idea behind the EUs “Blue strategy” - an Action Plan for Innovation in the ’Blue Economy’ to help use ocean resources sustainably and drive growth and jobs in Europe.

The Commission has identified a number of hurdles to be overcome: •.Our knowledge about the sea is still limited, maritime research efforts between Member States are not linked up, the European workforce of tomorrow need more engineers and scientists to apply new technologies in the marine environment.

•.The EU’s maritime or ”blue” economy has more than 5 million employees in sectors as diverse as fisheries, transport, marine biotech and offshore renewables, but that number can rise as the idea of Blue Economy is extended.

•.Between 2007 and 2013, the European Commission contributed an average of €350 million a year towards marine and maritime research through its seventh Framework Programme. Blue growth is a ”focus area” in the new Horizon 2020 programme, with a specific €145 million budget for 2014-2015 alone, and further opportunities across the programme.

2013 -2020 and opportunities in the biomarine and deep-sea mineral assets of Portugal.

- Norway and Portugal represent more than 55% of the total European maritime zone. They are two countries of marine innovation with strong potential in blue growth assets, said Mr. Pinto de Abreu.

To sum up: The two countries can lead European blue growth and allow other European partners to benefit from their untapped natural biodiversity reserves.

This can generate massive job creations, foster research and innovation as a first step stone towards reinforcing interactions in the biomarine industry especially in preparation of the October convention in Cascais, Portugal.

This is the main features of the Commission action plan presented today proposes to: •.Deliver a digital map of the entire seabed of European waters by 2020.

•.Create an online information platform, to be operational before the end of 2015, on marine research projects across the Horizon 2020 programme as well as nationally funded Portugal have a long history of exploring and harvesting marine resources in the North Atlantic. The portugese sea area is 18 times the countrys land area.

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Brigitte Bardot

Morgan Freeman

Salma Hayek

Paul McCartney

Saving the seven seas The blue planet is under pressure. An increasing number of celebrities, activists and scientists are sending out their personal SOS to save our seas - and our souls. dag yngland

The oceans, once deemed infinite, are reaching their limits through overfishing and pollution. But a change is under way - marine life is increasingly getting more attention as THE part of our world we really can´t live without.

Royals like Prince Albert of Monaco, musicians (Paul McCartney, Bob Geldof and Sting), actors (Morgan Freeman and Selma Hayek), politicians

(Bill Clinton and Dalai Lama) or diplomats (Kofi Annan) are engaging in the cause of saving the seas.

The oceans are we There is no doubt that oceans bring a host of benefits to society and the economy.

More than 350 million jobs are linked to oceans. The international trade in fish products spans 85 nations and involves

an estimated $102 billion per year. About $9 billion is made in coastal ecotourism, according to the UNDP (United Nations Environment Programme) - the enviroment programme of the UN. But a future in which the world population might swell from todays 6 to 9 billion by 2050, the oceans have to be protected and managed in a more sustainable way. Oceans cover 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface. They play a key role for the climate, as a route of transport and as food supply.

- The oceans are not bottom-

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Bob Geldof

Prince Albert

Sting

Bill Clinton

pictures: commons.wikimedia.org

Kofi Annan

less wells from which we can endlessly take. It is clear that a shift in thinking is required, said Achim Steiner, UNDP-Director at the recent World Ocean Summit 2014 in San Francisco.

the big blue. Googles Ocean Program aims to build the most comprehensive, engaging map of the ocean. So to speak the ocean version of Street View in Google Maps.

Google under water!

The event was hosted by the the renowned magazines National Geographic and The Economist.

Among the sponsors were major users of the oceans such as the container shipping companies Maersk and Wallenius Wilhelmsen, potenial polluters as the energygiant Shell, the classification and security controller DNV-GL as well as the the internet giant Google.

Google might eventually play a new and important role in uncovering the damages man has made to the world underneatht

Meeting tomorrow today Sir Bob Geldof, founder og Live Aid, has become a player in “the blue revolution”. At the Aqua Vision conference in Stavanger, Norway, in June 2014, Geldof delivers the key note speech on the main challenge: Feeding 9 billion people.

The biggest challenges in the world today can only be overcome when the big players - governments, corportations and NGO’s - find a way to work together strategically. This is the main message from Geldof, who has postioned himself as an

Albert Einstein

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Dalai Lama

authoritative corporate speaker, based on his own experiences, Live Aid and building commercial businesses.

- We will explore ways in which aquaculture can contribute sustainably to feeding the planet’s growing population,” says Viggo Halseth, COO of Nutreco Aquaculture, conference organizer.

!

The ocean holds most of life on earth. 97% of earth’s water is there.

It’s the blue heart of the planet — we should take care of our heart. It’s what makes life possible for us.

Sylvia Earle, oceanographer

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Jana Winderen at work in Greenland.

Photo: Jula Barclay

She grew up by the shore of Norway’s largest lake at a time when it was suffocating from algae growth. Twenty years of listening to the sea has made Jana Winderen a sound artist of global esteem. tellef øgrim

- Every time I go out with my recording equipment I find new sounds and get new knowledge of the world around me. Mentioning one specific finding as the most interesting is impossible, but I will never forget the early morning near the town of Stavern when I first heard the sound a snail by the sea shore makes, says Winderen.

If you listen closely to her recordings you might spot it.

But to record it in nature you have to get up very early in the morning, before other humans start making noises by for instance starting a boat engine, and you have to get hold of extremely sensitive sound equipment like the one the Norwegian sound artist travels the globe with.

Marine art When Blue Frontier Magazine

At work in Seoul. Photo: Jiyeon Kim

- What was there more natural than to examine the world (...) of fishes water, crabs and shrimp?

Jana Winderen, sound artist.

reaches her she is at Reykjavik lecturing students at the Icelandic Art Academy about her work. The day before she took them to a marine biological research station to show how she works.

- I go well with marine biologists. After all I had almost completed my education in marine biology when I jumped ship and chose art in the 1980s.

As a trained artist she soon stopped making concrete pieces of art and instead chose to work inside the more abstract and intangible world of sound.

What was then more natural than to examine a world that we normally do not associate with sound, the world of fishes, water, crabs and shrimp?

Don’t explain - I am an artist and not a researcher. But I understand how researchers work and from time to time I can contribute also to their work, says the artist that lately has had installations exhibited at amongst others The Museum of Modern Art and The Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

- Experts on the sound of fishes

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Riding the sound waves of the sea most often base their observations on how a certain sound is displayed on a screen. They lose some information by not listening to the best sound recordings. My high quality recordings have been a contribution to some researches work.

Winderen´s works are performed at concerts, installations, and are released as albums. Fundamental to all she does is a strong engagement for the environment.

No propaganda, plenty of engagement - I do not want to propagate a view or to explain too much, but sometimes I can get very upset. Like I did when I tried

The sound a cod makes is becoming known to many people through her work.

to record sounds at a reef in Scotland only to hear a shrieking, loud, metallic sound in my headset. The guide explained that the sound was produced under water to scare seals away from the salmon farms near by. The problem was however that the seal is accustomed to the sound to such a degree that is has no effect. Its only effect is that when the farmers use the alarm they can claim that they have done enough to try to scare the seals in this humane way. Since it does not work they are allowed to shoot seals, which I was told they do quite indiscriminately in stead ofusing extra nets to keep the seals away. All this to keep the price

of salmon low. Personally I think salmon should cost more.

Cod speak The sound universe Winderen has discovered is largely unknown to most of us. She is certain that it will give her enough artistic material for a whole life as a sound artist. The sound a cod makes is becoming known to many people through her work. But what is that cracking sound any scuba diver can hear under water?

- I have heard several explanations. One is that it produces by a certain type of shrimp. But I have recorded the sound much further north than where this shrimp lives. I think it might be the result of sound from many different animals going about their daily underwater activities, but I do not know. Yet. Her interest in the sound at reefs has brought her to oceans outside countries like the UK, Panama and Norway.

Her dream is now to go to Asia to explore and record similar biotopes there.

Your preferred partner in life science based aquaculture solutions

NMBU and allies have been instrumental in installing industrial aquaculture through leading breeding, fish health and nutrition research. These are all fundamental measures to advance aquaculture in a cost efficient and sustainable way. Starting off with salmonids in the 70-ties, the university has provided its competencies in a series of other important aquatic and marine species worldwide.

NMBU is in the lead in the listed fields. We are proud to having initiated and being an instrumental partner to complete the sequence of the Atlantic salmon genome. NMBU has also provided the ultra-efficient genetic marker, reducing the freqency of the devastating virus disease, IPN, through marker assisted selection implemented by industrial partner AquaGen. This fruitful scientific collaboration also has resulted in the successful disclosure of the causal gene.

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Institute of Animal- and Aquaculture Sciences / Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Biosciences Contact:

Professor Torstein Steine, Head of Institute - torstein.steine@nmbu.no Professor Ă˜ystein Lie, Dean of Faculty - oystein.lie@nmbu.no

www.nmbu.no