Image by:Rob Fletcher
Nº 6 December 2015 • www.fishfarmingexpert.com
Recirculation round-up Scotland’s RAS revolution
Chile: erstwhile RAS masters are losing ground
Canada: the impact of Climate change
Norway: Phosphorous – problems and potential
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Helen Ann Hamilton
“Aquaculture is the biggest source of phosphorus emissions to water bodies, resulting in 9 kilotonnes of phosphorus entering the water per year".
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Editor Rob Fletcher rob@fishfarmingexpert.com Norway Publisher Gustav-Erik Blaalid gustav@kyst.no Editor Pål Mugaas Jensen palmj@kyst.no Journalist Linn Therese Skår Hosteland linn@kyst.no Therese Soltveit therese@kyst.no Key account managers Inger Jo Tellefsen ingerjo@kyst.no Jorge Piazza Cangas jorge@kyst.no Heidi Angell Jakobsen heidi@kyst.no Sales manager Laila Indrebø laila@kyst.no Chile Manager Erich Guerrero erich@salmonexpert.cl Editor Christian Pérez Mallea christian@salmonexpert.cl Journalists Daniella Vera Balin Fürst daniella@salmonexpert.cl Patricio Feest patricio@salmonexpert.cl
Editorial Vocation, vocation, vocation Opinion Phil Thomas, SSPO
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Key account manager Fernando Cáceres Bofill fernando@salmonexpert.cl
Heather Jones, SAIC
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Walter Speirs, SSIA
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Graphic Designer Evelyn Charles Gutiérrez evelyn@salmonexpert.cl (Design support) Felipe Guerrero felipeguerrero85@gmail.com
Douglas Tocher, IoA
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Canada Journalist Laura Braden laura@fishfarmingexpert.com Administration/editorial staff editor@fishfarmingexpert.com Subscriptions subscribe@fishfarmingexpert.com Address: Skoltegrunnskaien 1, 5003 Bergen, Norway Telephone: + 47 55 54 13 00 Web: www.fishfarmingexpert.com Fishfarmingexpert. All reproduction of articles and announcements is prohibited without prior written consent from Fishfarmingexpert. Cancellation of subscriptions must occur in writing. Fishfarmingexpert maintains the right to make any material published herein available in electronic form. Fishfarmingexpert is not responsible for submitted photos, with the exception of material solicited for publication by the journal through prior agreement. Fishfarmingexpert is an independent, politically unbiased professional journal. We adhere to the rules set forth by the Norwegian press organization (MBL).
Salmon Review Scotland: Recirculation
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Chile: Recirculation
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Canada: Climate change
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Norway: Offshore salmon 'ship'
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R&D Phosphorous
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Gut biome
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International Centre for Aquaculture Research and Development (ICARD) 38 New products
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Farewell Guy Mace
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Contents
ON THE HOTPLATE – THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AQUACULTURE Laura Braden, reveals how the changing climate on both east and west coasts of Canada is already causing marked changes in marine ecosystems and explains the potential impacts – both positive and negative – that this might have on the country’s aquaculture industry.
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RECIRC ROUND-UP PART ONE A profile of Scotland’s latest generation of RAS systems, interviewing their managers and finding out about the effects they are having on smolt production.
13 RECIRC ROUND-UP PART TWO Torben Petersen, general manager in Aquachile, who was formerly responsible for a number of pioneering recirculation facilities, sheds light on the decline in RAS investment in Chile.
21 ELEMENTAL CONCERNS A new study reveals that, due to the essential phosphorous content of salmon feeds, attempts to increase salmon production could have serious environmental implications, unless the industry finds a way of recycling this key element.
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GUT BACTERIA BREAKTHROUGH The first complete picture of wild Atlantic salmon gut bacteria has just been published, potentially paving the way for a more ecologically sustainable salmon farming industry.
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Editor's Welcome
Editorial
ROB FLETCHER rob@fishfarmingexpert.com
Vocation,
vocation, vocation It was not long ago that senior figures in Scotland’s fish farming community were regularly lamenting the lack of talented, motived and qualified individuals coming into the industry. As the pioneering figures of the sector – many of whom were innovative, inspirational and dynamic – began to retire from the industry, many felt their departure could herald the creation of something of a talent vacuum – the consolidation of the industry and it’s comparatively limited evolution giving the impression to school leavers and graduates alike that many of the jobs on offer were a little too monotonous. Now, however, it seems that this problem might be turned on its head – if you look at the amount of higher education courses that include aquaculture in their core syllabus, it seems unlikely that all these graduates-to-be will find space in the industry, at least not in Scotland where increase of salmon production is by no means keeping pace with the emergence of veritable shoals of aquaculturally adept students. Indeed, it is very possible to envisage a scenario where there is a surfeit of Scottish-trained talent clamouring for 6
aquaculture jobs and this is only going to be compounded as the number of courses continues to multiply: in the last year alone SAMS has launched a sustainable aquaculture degree; Aberdeen has launched its International Centre for Aquaculture Research and Development (ICARD) and Dundee’s Engineering Department has taken on its first four SAIC scholars. Looking ahead, the Dick Vet School has announced plans to launch a global food security course with aquaculture set to play a starring role. While such qualifications are by no means the be and all and end all of what makes a good fish farmer – indeed many of the stalwarts of the industry have learnt on the job – this profusion of aquaculture courses suggests that a surfeit of talent is in the pipeline and employers are soon going to be spoilt for choice when it comes to recruitment. Given that the Scottish industry is likely to only be able to absorb a fraction of those emerging from academia, it seems likely that many are going to have to spread their wings and head out to the new frontiers of the global aquaculture industry and use their qualifications and technical expertise in countries and species where
the sector is still in its developing phase. In the meantime, however, given that we are not quite yet at that stage, all of those who have already embarked on a successful career in the industry should make the most of their head start on these soon-to-be-qualified cohorts. Thankfully, it is still an industry that practical experience is still invaluable and which also offers on-the-job training of a sort that few university courses can compete with. Seize the time!
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It is very possible to envisage a scenario where there is a surfeit of Scottishtrained talent clamouring for aquaculture jobs.
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Opinion
Comment
PHIL THOMAS, CHAIRMAN OF THE SCOTTISH SALMON PRODUCERS’ ORGANISATION (SSPO)
Some personal reflections
Last month I came to the planned completion of my term as SSPO Chairman, a position I have been honoured to hold since early 2008. So here are some personal reflections on Scotland’s salmon farming and on how things have changed over those intervening years. The headlines are all good news. Since 2007, the Scottish industry has increased its production by about 40% and the number of good-sized modern farms has been increased through consolidation and/or expansion of sites and progressive, if slow, development of new sites. The company structure has remained very strong and dynamic, with two substantial new-entry companies and some impressive intra-company business development involving vertical and sectoral integration through major investment and business innovation. Farming technology has also changed substantially, in a variety of ways. In 2008, wellboats were an incoming development. Now, together with the new technology options they offer, they are an integral part of the salmon farming value chain. In 2008, cleaner fish were marked ‘investigated in the 1990s but not pursued
on the introduction of effective in-feed sea lice treatments’. Now ballan wrasse and lumpfish are widely regarded as central to the biological control strategies that are being adopted by farmers; and the on-farm results are impressive.
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Soon four crops of the market-sized salmon will be grown in the period in which three were grown before
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In 2008, the concept of reducing the length of the marine phase of production by using ‘super-smolts’ was a twinkle in the eye. However, with huge new investments in recirculation smolt-production units, the direction of travel seems set. Soon four crops of market-size salmon will be grown in the period in which three were grown before. Pen design, net standards, and farm equipment have continually been improved; and the introduction of the Scottish Technical Standard for fish farm equipment now underpins all future developments in equipment and procedures. Computer-controlled feeding systems, more effective acoustic seal deterrents, and computer-based recording equipment and management aids have all become the norm – and new developments appear year after year. In 2008, salmon farmers rightly complained that there was no political or public recognition of the key importance 7
Opinion
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The notion that we will meet the population’s long-term dietary needs for fish using hunter-gatherer technology has always struck me as slightly bizarre, particularly at a time of declining global fish stocks
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of salmon farming to the Scottish economy. Now, nothing could be further from the truth. The evolution of farmed salmon as Scotland’s and the UK’s largest single food export, and active promotion of the industry by SSPO has brought a transformation. I have lost count of the people who have told me in conspiratorial tones that ‘farmed salmon is Scotland’s largest food export you know’ – but I have cherished every one! In 2008, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were a relative minority, having taken only 19% of seats at the 2003 holyrood elections. However, in 2007 they were (unexpectedly) successful in gaining 36% of seats and they opted to form a minority Scottish Government. How things have changed! Now, after the 2011 elections, the SNP forms a majority Scottish Government with 50% of the seats in the Scottish Parliament; and they hold 95% of the Scottish seats in the UK Parliament, making them the overwhelmingly dominant political party in Scotland, with an enormous potential to drive forward an agenda of economic and social development. Has the period since 2008 had disappointments? Well, yes. Of course. Because it would be strange if it were otherwise. Personally, as a strategic scientist at heart, I have been frustrated by the failure of governments – Scottish, UK and European – to respond effectively to the strategic importance of fish-farming, in respect to food policy and to climate change.
The notion that we will meet the population’s long-term dietary needs for fish using hunter-gatherer technology has always struck me as slightly bizarre, particularly at a time of declining global fish stocks. Likewise, the advantages of fish farming as a resource efficient, lowcarbon method of protein production seem so self-evident they should hardly need political explanation. However, in most EU countries – and Scotland is an example – Ministerial responsibility for fish farming tends (mistakenly in my view) to be tagged on to the Environment Minister’s very large and diverse portfolio. Thus, it often fails to be seen as an opportunity for priority attention. Additionally, again Scotland is an example, Environment Ministers often only have about 15 months in office before being moved to some other position and that impairs the formulation of visionary development policies. Thus, whilst Scottish salmon farming has grown and developed over the past years, slow progress in reforming planning and licensing systems has meant we have produced a declining proportion of the world’s farmed salmon and that hard fact remains to be addressed
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Review
Review HEATHER JONES
SAIC’s first year: what’s been and what’s next
The Deputy First Minister used the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre’s first annual event to signal support for Scottish aquaculture growth, writes Heather Jones, CEO of SAIC.
In November, the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) celebrated its first year by hosting a conference at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh. It’s always flattering to have government ministers come to your event, and we were delighted to attract two ministers whose work impacts the aquaculture sector. As well as having Deputy First Minister John Swinney make the keynote speech, we were pleased to host Dr Aileen McLeod, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. The point of mentioning those ministerial guests is not, in fact, name-dropping. Rather, it was heartening to see the interest at government level in the aquaculture sector in Scotland, its longterm future, and SAIC’s work to connect businesses and researchers on innovative, commercial projects.
Aligning the public and private sectors for growth In the words of John Swinney, welcoming our new project announcements at the event: “Scotland’s aquaculture industry makes a vital contribution to our economy. It generates economic activity in Scotland worth £1.86 billion every year and creates thousands of jobs in often very remote areas. The Scottish Government is fully supportive of the sustainable growth of aquaculture, underpinned by worldleading science, research and innovation, and the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre has a key role in proactively driving innovation.” Also very welcome at the annual conference were the words and mindset of another our key speakers, Terry A’Hearn, recently-installed Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). His presentation emphasised the 9
Review and collaborations that support the SME supply chain. We expect to announce various projects over the course of year, and I hope these may involve some of the major standardsetting retailers such as M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. All do commendable work promoting sustainability throughout the aquaculture supply chain. We were delighted that they signalled their support for sustainable growth in Scottish aquaculture by joining the SAIC Consortium in 2015. Heather Jones and Jack Perry (Chair of SAIC) confirmed that they will provide over £800k of SAIC funding to a lumpfish supply project whose partners include Alan Sutherland, MD of Marine Harvest Scotland, and Prof Hervé Migaud, Director of research at Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture.
desirability of a regulatory framework which operates to protect environmental and community interests but also allows business to flourish. SAIC is committed to working with SEPA and other public sector bodies, in Scotland and further afield, to support prosperity and regulatory innovation.
Key players in the industry’s future Limited space deprives me of the ability to namecheck other speakers or the 200plus delegates at our annual conference, but there are two noteworthy groups to mention. Not the most obvious of VIP guests, but their presence at the event was important, both symbolically and in their valuable contributions to the day’s discussions. The first were the MSc and PhD students who came from universities around Scotland and the site managers and upand-coming employees of Scotland’s salmon-producing companies who attended the conference. As the sector’s future talent and leaders, their views and skills are important, and we were greatly impressed with their ideas for long-term aquaculture growth and sustainability in a ‘visioning the future’ workshop, which looked at the challenges and opportunities facing Scottish aquaculture over the next 15 years. The second group of noteworthy delegates were those who came from outside the 10
aquaculture sector, including researchers and policymakers. As we progress our plans for SAIC’s second and subsequent years, we intend to generate innovative aquaculture solutions from outside the sector, as well as from inside it. Our forward calendar of events and meetings therefore includes work with agritech and agrifeed specialists, engineers, physicists and others.
Plans for 2016 and beyond Work will continue in 2016 on our Priority Innovation Areas – improved sea lice control, alternative sustainable feeds for finfish, rapid detection methods for pathogens and diseases, and development of secure health-certified Scottish mollusc spat production systems. We will also catalyse discussions that promote growth in Scottish aquaculture, including investment in infrastructure, as well as fostering projects
Finally, I am conscious that I have mentioned SAIC’s first-year celebrations but not our achievements. A whistlestop tour, then. Five projects funded, worth over £9.2 million, including £2.2 million of SAIC funding. These include four projects on sea lice control, and support for trialling a commercial mussel hatchery in Shetland. We have also built capability in the people who will help the sector grow, and created a cohort of the ‘leaders and researchers of the future’. These include the 21 SAIC Scholars who this spring will work on industry-defined research projects for their MSc degrees, and the PhD students who have built their international connections and knowledge of the industry through SAIC bursaries. If you want to know more about SAIC’s first year, our forthcoming plans, or details of projects announced or upcoming events, there is plenty more news available on our website, scottishaquaculture.com, including our Annual Review 2014/15
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SAIC is giving £120k towards a lumpfish welfare project whose partners include Dr Sonia Rey Planellas (left) from the Institute of Aquaculture and Angela Ashby (right) from Fish Vet Group.
Opinion
A hint
Comment
of déjà vu? Just over a year ago I was asked if I would consider chairing a proposed new trade body representing the interests of individuals and companies involved in all things algal, the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association. Having just given up a similar role for the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers (ASSG) I had time free, so in a moment of weakness I agreed. As I had been doing quite a bit of work with seaweed myself since the dreaded Mytilus trossulus took over my mussel farm on Loch Etive it seemed quite appropriate. Getting the legal structures in place was the first task, along with a Board of Directors and Management Committee. Not as easy as it used to be to do this, especially trying to open a new bank account. After much to-ing and fro-ing with passports and utility bills eventually we were official…and legal. With the groundwork done the Management Committee then started to recruit members, and ask them what they sought from their new association. With a very diverse membership base the needs were as many as the members, but some common concerns were identified. It was about this stage that I got the feeling, “I’ve been here before!” – the seaweed industry is in a very similar place to that of the shellfish industry 30 years ago, and possibly the salmon industry 20 years before that. The first task for me was to try and get some funding to help get us started, and
WALTER SPEIRS CHAIR, SCOTTISH SEAWEED INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION seaweedscotland@gmail.com
I approached Highlands and Islands Enterprise, using the positive example of the Farmed Shellfish Development Initiative (FSDI) set up in the early ’90s to help get the shellfish industry moving using the vehicle of the ASSG. Sadly no funding has yet been granted, but I seem to remember that it took several attempts to get the FSDI set up, so I’m still working on it. The over-riding need expressed by members was one of representation. No surprise there, as that is the main function of all of the trade associations I have worked with over the years. Sadly, it can also be the most contentious with members, as it is the most difficult role to justify, as there is no obvious and clear economic benefit to be gained by spending time at meetings with various government agencies and NGOs. Other parallels with the early shellfish industry are the absence of legislation and standards. For example there are no specific labelling requirements currently in place for seaweed products being placed on the market for human consumption. Members currently use their own selfimposed standards when selling to blue chip customers, but that doesn’t apply to many of the small-scale foragers working up and down the country. Interestingly, there were two conflicting media stories recently about iodine. One stated that the UK was becoming deficient in iodine due to people eating less seafood, the other that eating too
much seaweed could cause excessive iodine levels in the body. Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine, but how much is too much? Labelling making clear the Recommended Daily Amount would address this, as is the case with vitamins, etc. Still, on wild harvest of seaweed, there is no regulatory regime in place to ensure that gathering is done under licence, to ensure that stocks are not excessively depleted, and that it is done in a sustainable manner. Traceability would link the product to a known licensed area, as is now the case with wild harvest of bivalves. On the cultivation side, the first issue is the fact that growing seaweed is not classed as aquaculture, so what is it? This may seem an insignificant question, but it does have consequences. It is only recently that aquaculture has become part of the Common Fisheries Policy, after many years in no man’s land. Secondly, SEPA has taken the view that seaweed grown for human consumption should only be grown in designated Shellfish Growing Waters, which is unhelpful, and not based on any scientific evidence. How does that square with wild harvested seaweed? So, again, similar to my shellfish experiences, there is no dialogue between SEPA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS). Surely the FSS should decide what is acceptable to enter the food chain, not SEPA.
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So, a lot to be done, and very little money! Sound familiar?
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Opinion
Opinion
PROFESSOR DOUGLAS TOCHER Institute of Aquaculture, Stirling University
GM or not GM? that is the question The Scottish government's announcement that it will ban the growing of GM crops was extremely disappointing to many of us in the scientific community. The ban was announced without due consultation and without the cabinet secretary for rural affairs, Richard Lochhead, offering any credible scientific evidence that GM crops would actually be harmful to Scotland. Indeed, he later confirmed that the decision was one definitely not based on scientific evidence. It therefore appears that the GM crops ban is a populist political move that is not informed by science, and moreover potentially risks the future of scientific research in Scotland. As an example, my team at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling have been working with colleagues at Rothamsted Research in England on developing omega-3 fish oils in GM plants. The idea is ultimately to deliver the salmon industry a sustainable supply of fish oils for feeds, which are currently heavily dependent on the finite and limited supplies of fish oil derived from wild fisheries. Is our work to reduce the pressure on wild fish stocks and make salmon farming sustainable long-term now banned in the very country that could most benefit from it? A blanket ban also ignores the fact that GM is simply biological technology with potentially wide and varied applications. Our research aims to develop and apply this technology in oilseed crops to produce sustainable sources of key fatty acids called long-chain omega-3. Most people are aware of the benefits of long-chain omega-3 as components of a healthy human diet, providing protection 12
against cardiovascular diseases and promoting cardiac health. However, few are aware that there is simply not enough long-chain omega-3 available in the world to satisfy human dietary requirements. However, these omega-3s are only made by marine microalgae and land plants cannot make them, hence we can only obtain them in our diet in any significant amount from fish and seafood, or by taking fish oil capsules. This research uses algal genes to enable oilseed crops to produce these key omega-3 fatty acids. Oily fish such as Atlantic salmon, including farmed salmon, are among the best sources of the omega-3 in our diet. More than 50 % of all fish and seafood is farmed nowadays and the only way to ensure these products are rich in omega-3 is to include them in the diet of the farmed fish. Therefore, the global lack of omega-3 is impacting global aquaculture activities and the industry is desperately seeking new sources of omega-3 that currently can only be supplied by marine ingredients derived from wild pelagic fisheries. The University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture has been testing and assessing the oils from GM oilseed crops developed at Rothamsted Research as entirely new, sustainable sources of omega-3 to replace the mainly imported fish oil in feeds for farmed fish. When you consider that Scotland has a high death rate from heart disease, one third of all deaths, and that we also produce thousands of tonnes of farmed salmon that can be a rich source of the beneficial omega-3, it becomes ironic. Research conducted in Scotland is aiming to ensure a key industry in Scotland’s food and
drink sector can develop sustainably and produce fish with health-promoting levels of long-chain omega-3 yet the Scottish government would not permit these GM crops to be grown in the very country where the oils the crops produce can be applied most effectively. While this is not to suggest that Scotland’s health problems are all dietary related or that omega-3 or GM crops are panaceas for all our ills, the research highlights an alternative application of GM technology. Moreover, there is now a worldwide consensus that GM crops are safe for human and animal consumption, a scientific consensus that parallels that on climate change, which the Scottish government claims to take very seriously. But why put one scientific consensus at the heart of policymaking while ignoring another? If the Scottish government only trusts scientists selectively based on ideological preferences, this does not bode well for evidence-based policymaking in this country. Scotland has a proud tradition of intellectual freedom and scientific leadership dating back to the Enlightenment, in the 18th century. Central to this is the principle that it is not for politicians to dictate the boundaries of scientific research. If this principle is today compromised by uninformed political populism in Holyrood, Scotland risks losing its science leadership position as researchers move to countries with a more supportive political environment. Let us hope this is not the direction we are now heading in
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Recirculation
Salmon Review Scotland
Smolten goals
Scottish smolt production has moved forward in leaps and bounds in the last few years, with three major recirculation aquaculture systems (RASs) being successfully completed since 2012, creating new options and new challenges alike for managers both on land and at sea. Rob Fletcher | rob@fishfarmingexpert.com
Operated by Marine Harvest, Grieg Seafood Shetland and Cooke Aquaculture, this new generation of recirculation systems includes some of the most technologically advanced facilities operational in global aquaculture and have not been without their problems to set up, yet all three are now churning out impressive results. However, despite the apparent success of all three facilities, their expense – both to build and to run – is by no means negligible. As a result, freshwater operatives still value traditional freshwater loch sites,
as and where these are available, while many seawater operatives still prefer smolt produced in lochs too, as fish raised in outdoor systems are thoughts to adapt more readily to transfer to marine sites. Nevertheless, the experience gained in the first trio of facilities will help pave the way for any future developments and it is telling that Marine Harvest already has plans afoot to start building the company’s second RAS, at Inchmore, in 2016.
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Salmon Review Scotland
Recirculation
Lochailort Of the three RAS facilities constructed in Scotland in the last two years, Marine Harvest’s, at Lochailort, was the first to be stocked, and has now produced five batches of smolts.
John Richmond
The facility, which was completed for roughly £15m, now produces 5-6 million 120g smolts and 5-6 million 20-60g parr every year. This equates to 60% of MH Scotland’s parr and 30% of its smolt output. Smolt are produced in two generations annually – the first going to sea in January/February and the second in August. The build was project managed by John Richmond, the company’s freshwater hatcheries manager, who reflects: “The growth rate has been excellent – the last batch we put to sea went from eyed ova in November, to first feed stage in early February, to 150g in August.”
Allan MacDonald
John was able to call on his experience of operation RAS systems – MH Scotland ran one at Lochailort for 18 years prior to the latest construction – when managing the build, although the difference in size was considerable. “The last one produced 25-30 tonnes of fry a year, now we’re producing 700-800 tonnes,” John explains, “and our main challenge at the outset was how to scale it up”. “However, we went out to see recirc facilities in Chile and Norway and the 3rd and 4th generation facilities being built there gave us the confidence that large scale RAS for smolt production was viable,” he recalls.
Hatchery specs The end result consists of four separate recirc systems – one for each of the fry, parr and smolt units within the building. Some of the design and technology came from the Danish firm Aquatec Solutions 14
while the Anglesey-based aquarium specialist International Aqua-Tech (IAT) provided the egg incubation systems, the intake sterilisation plant, and the ozone systems for the fry, parr and pre-smolt recirc units. The biofilters are fixed bed, which John prefers as they act as “very, very good particulate traps”. And, although they need to be cleaned more often than a moving bed equivalent, as each has four chambers within it, the system is designed so that each chamber can be cleaned separately without shutting the entire thing down. “We clean each chamber about once a fortnight,” John explains, “and it easy to do – just a question of pressing a few buttons.” The fry are housed in tanks of 5m diameter with a 20m3 capacity, the parr in tanks of 10m diameter with a 170m3 capacity and the smolt in tanks of 12m diameter with 340m3 capacity. There is also a separate egg unit, which takes in four batches of ova a year. “The eggs currently come from Marine Harvest broodstock in Norway, but in time we plan to operate as a multiplier facility,” John explains, “creating our own broodstock from the elite eggs produced by Marine Harvest in Norway.”
Man management The Lochailort facility is operated by two teams of ten working and living on site, operating an 80-hour shift over the course of 7 days which is then followed by 7 days off. “It took us a while to find the right formula but it works well for our remotely located staff and allows us to cover for contingencies,” explains hatchery manager Allan Macdonald. “We get a fresh team every week and it means we can take people from a larger area – we currently have someone from Dumfries
Recirculation and someone from near Ullapool working here. “It seems to work well and we currently have a 96% yield – ie only 4% mortality between the egg and smolt phase – which is the benchmark we’re trying to hit. “The first year was more problematic though, we were trying to run the old site plus learn the four new systems here, but two-and-a-half years down the line we know a lot more and have a good core team of staff which combines a good mix of experience and enthusiasm”.
Lochs vs land-based There is something of a debate about the relative merits of using freshwater loch sites or land-based facilities for growing salmon to smolt size, but John firmly believes that both have their merits and that a combination of the two is the ideal scenario.
Salmon Review Scotland
“While there’s a current trend to grow smolts bigger before releasing them into marine sites we prefer to use our loch sites to produce the bigger fish – as the water, space and oxygen are free. “We are, however, very keen to vaccinate all our parr in RASs before they go to our freshwater loch sites, as they are susceptible to fungal infection in the lochs straight after they’ve been vaccinated. By transferring larger fish vaccinated fish into the lochs we will also then be able to produce larger smolts within the same biomass consent. “Another useful thing about the RAS facility is that it allows us to produce more early season smolts – loch sites can’t start the smoltification process until 6-8 weeks after the summer solstice at which point there needs to be a further 400 degree days of spring photoperiod, which means we’d not be able to put them put to sea until late September/early October. “On the other hand, with complete photoperiod control at Lochailort we
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Salmon Review Scotland
Recirculation in transfers from both lochs and recircs and a similar variability with both. All we need to do is generate more evidence which will improve our confidence in what we’re doing,” he concludes.
Plans afoot
John Richmond explains the layout at Lochailort.
can produce smolts all year round, which means we can fill the gap in smolt stocking which exists in July/August,” he adds.
Marine Harvest received a major boost in May, when Highlands and Islands Council granted permission for the firm to transform their flow-through hatchery at Inchmore into a facility akin to the one at Lochailort and John will be able to put his hard-won experience of setting up the earlier site to full use.
Despite the numerous advantages of the RAS facility John also emphasises that the company greatly values its freshwater loch sites too, and is convinced that these should not be a barrier to ASC certification – something the MH Group has pledged to achieve across all its salmon sites by 2020.
“A lot that we’ve learned in Lochailort can be used at Inchmore and, because we now have a much better idea this time around of where the key areas of focus need to be, we have decided to work with IAT alone this time in order to help us achieve this.”
“We’re keen to keep our freshwater loch sites,” he explains, “and have applied for a derogation within the ASC standard. I think we’ve got a pretty strong case – it makes no sense that we could vacate our freshwater sites and trout farmers could move in the next day and be ASC certified.
“Inchmore will produce more ‘Q3’ smolts – ie smolts that can be put to sea in the third quarter of each year – and this will extend the season we can stock our sea sites as well as provide the extra capacity to ensure that we can vaccinate all our parr on land before being transferred to freshwater loch sites,” he explains.
“We’ve been farming some loch sites for 35 years and there is good evidence that we are not enriching the nutrient levels of the lochs. We think that the two systems – loch sites and land-based hatcheries – work well in tandem,” he concludes. Another debate within the relative value of the different smolt systems surrounds the performance of the fish when they’re put out to marine sites, but John feels it’s still too early to pass judgement. “There has been a general perception that hatchery-produced smolts don’t perform as well at sea as those that have been raised in loch sites, as the latter are behaviourally better adapted to the change – it’s a similar environment and uses similar feeding methods: in the hatchery a screw-style feeder is used and the smolts can be scared of the blowfeeder going off at sea,” he observes. “However we’ve seen good and bad results 16
Once it’s up and running 45% of MHS’s smolts and 100% of its parr will be produced in RAS facilities and John predicts that there will be no further forays into RAS for a while
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Quick facts Ground broken – March 2012 First eggs delivered – May 2013 Footprint – 13,500m2 Cost - Approx £15m Production capacity – 5-6 million 120g smolts and 5-6 million 20-60g parr (ie 700800 tonnes) per year Staff – two teams of 10 Key equipment providers – Aquatec Solutions, Denmark; International AquaTec (IAT), Wales. Water usage – 300m3 per day. Number of recirc systems – 4 Biofilter type – fixed bed
Recirculation
Salmon Review Scotland
Grieg Seafood Shetland (GSS)
“ Grieg Seafood Shetland (GSS) has been going through an extensive rebuilding programme in the last few years and perhaps the key component of the company’s development is the recently completed RAS smolt unit at Girlsta. The impressive £15.8 million facility hatched its first eggs in July last year, but only had its official opening this June, having been under construction for over three years. Originally the plans were for it to produce smolts at around 200g apiece, and it will have the capacity to produce 4.5 million smolts of this size each year when fully operational. However, due largely to the increasing prevalence of severe algal blooms that has been noted in the islands, the company is currently considering growing smolts to even larger sizes before releasing them into marine sites – so the fish are both more robust on transfer and don’t need to spend as long at sea. Not only does this limit their exposure to the likes of lice, algae and AGD but it also means they can produce more fish from their good sites and mothball their
worst performing ones and still keep their production total steady. As Sigurd Pettersen, Managing Director of GSS, explains: “The new hatchery allows us to tailor the smolt production to the size we want and we now plan to produce smolt of at least 200g, and we are going to try releasing a batch at 300g in February. This will allow us to reduce the production cycle in Shetland from 24 to 18 months”.
Hatchery specs The hatchery is divided into four units – for eggs, fry, parr and smolt – and each has its own biofilter. “It’s a first for Shetland and a first for Grieg and it’s a necessary step for the company. It is similar to the company’s RAS hatcheries in Norway and Canada and has been installed by some of the same companies, but is the first of the Grieg Seafood group’s RAS hatcheries that has been built from scratch. All the others – at Finnmark and Trosnavag in Norway, and in BC – were flow-through facilities that have since been adapted,”
The new hatchery allows us to tailor the smolt production to the size we want and we now plan to produce smolt of at least 200g, and we are going to try releasing a batch at 300g in February.
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Salmon Review Scotland
Recirculation Sigurd explains, “and we will be the most efficient hatchery within the group.” The new hatchery employs 16 people, many of whom are new to salmon farming, so the company is working on its protocols – no easy task given that fish are constantly being moved around between the facility’s four units.
Jon Walden, smolt transfer.
A second batch of smolts was transferred to other sites in Setterness in July and these are also reported to be thriving – marking a very promising start to facility. “Every production run gets closer to the standard we want,” Jon explains. “We still have a way to go to achieve the size of fish we want but we are making good progress towards our target.
Indeed, as Jon Walden, who has been working on the site since 2012 and took over from John McEvoy as manager in 2015, reflects: “The conveyor belt is now rolling and we’re flat out producing fish – it’s relentless”.
“However, the system throws up so many surprises that it will probably take a couple of years to master the process,” he admits.
It’s been an intensive learning process, but it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come in the last 18 months.”
The facility means that GSS will be able to produce enough smolts at Girlsta to stock all their Scottish sites – which are mainly in Shetland, apart from a handful on Skye – leaving room for further expansion, or perhaps even giving them the option of selling on any excess to other producers.
Progress is indeed being made and the first batch of 358,000 smolts, which averaged over 150g, were transferred to one of the company’s sites at Setterness at the beginning of May and experienced very few mortalities. Jon reflects: “We had very positive feedback from the wellboat, from divers and from the guys on site – it’s been the lowest level of mortalities at transfer that we’ve ever recorded in Shetland”.
Potential for change
“We will have spare capacity, but are keeping our external contracts just in case. In time we might have potential for external sales, but it’s neither a priority nor in our business plan – we need to get our own house in order first,” Jon observes
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Quick facts Ground broken – April 2012 First eggs delivered – abortive run in 2013, first successful production run commenced mid-June 2014 First smolts put to sea – 5th May 2015, 2.5 million total for 2015 average weight @ 110g Cost - £15.8 m Footprint – 6500m2 Production capacity – 4.5 million, 200g smolts Staff – 16 Key equipment providers – Inter Aqua Advance for design, Shetland Composites for tanks, local engineering/construction/electricians (Ocean Kinetics, Garriocks, Enertec) Typical water usage – 60% of abstraction licence – that’s what I think we’ll end up using at peak biomass but so far typically run at 25% of maximum allowable. Number of recirc systems – 4 (including one in the egg unit) Biofilter type – moving bed
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Recirculation
Salmon Review Scotland
Cooke Aquaculture, Furnace
Cooke Aquaculture’s RAS system, in the Argyllshire village of Furnace, released its first generation of smolts in October 2014 and recently sent its third generation out to sea. When running at capacity the site will be able to batch produce about 3.5 million 100g smolts per year, while it is currently producing closer to 3 million – nearly half of the 6-7 million smolts the company stocks in its Scottish seawater sites each year. “All in all the site employs 11 people, so producing 3 million fish a year is pretty good going,” Richard Polanski, Cooke’s Smolt Unit manager, reflects. Richard, who has been at Furnace for 20 years, working with both flow-through and recirc systems, is impressed with the advantages that the new facility brings. “There’s no comparison: it’s a calmer environment, and it’s less intrusive for the fish, as they need fewer treatments
and less grading – we only have to grade the fish when they first arrive from the hatchery and prior to vaccination, that’s all. Fish husbandry is essential but we are able to leave the fish to get on and grow, with minimal stress and minimal walkway presence. They also benefit from perfect water quality,” he enthuses. Another benefit is the saving on feed experienced at the new facility. “The feed conversion ratio (FCR) is now down to 0.8: 1, from 1.1: 1 in the old flow-through system at this site,” Richard explains. The system in place is a split loop Akva recirculation system “with some added improvements,” says Richard, “such as a moving bed bioreactor which is very efficient at changing ammonia to nitrite, then the nitrite to nitrate. Akva’s submerged bed filter aids this process but has an added benefit of being a particle filter, thus helping to ensure cleaner, and clearer, water.
“Fish health is the most important factor, of course, but the main way to ensure the fish stay healthy is to maintain excellent water quality and there’s a lab onsite where the water quality and the health of the fish are both constantly monitored, seven days a week,” he explains. This is done by the likes of Fish Health Supervisor Rhona Robertson, who has been working at Furnace for nearly two years and is enjoying working in both the facility and the salmon industry as a whole. “It’s still a new industry and I’ve got lots to learn, but we’re really trying to set a new standard here,” she reflects. “If we can keep the water quality constant, we see a marked decline in health issues, but the system also allows rapid treatments to be carried out – any signs of fungal infection, for example, can easily be controlled by raising the base salinity levels,” she adds.
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Salmon Review Scotland It is a very different environment to the one Richard remembers from when he started his career in freshwater facilities. “That’s not to say that traditional husbandry skills are no longer needed, but our staff are all hatchery technicians, not just fish farmers now, and we’re now looking after two living things – the fish and the biofilter, which work in a symbiotic relationship – each requires the other to remain healthy. Given that the fish put on 2-3% of their body weight every day, the biofilter has to be able to keep pace with this growth,” he explains. “We’re all proud to work here,” Richard adds, “as we’ve got something really good and are proud to keep it that way. It’s the first hatchery in the UK to be built to food safety standards…hygiene levels are exceptional and the whole thing can even be steam-cleaned if we wanted it to be.”
The size debate There has been plenty of press given recently to the idea of stocking marine sites with larger smolts in a bid to reduce the time spent at sea, thereby minimising exposure to all the inherent dangers – caused by the likes of seals and sea lice – that face the fish in saltwater. “We could produce 1 million 600g fish, which would need less time at sea,” Andy reflects, “or 3.5 million 100g fish – it really depends on what the site managers are wanting, but we know that stocking bigger smolts should allow us to bring down the production time at our seawater sites from 14 months to reduce the impact of parasites and diseases, and therefore also reduce the number of treatments required.”
Recognition Despite the complications involved in “shoehorning” the new RAS system into the exact footprint of the flow-through unit that previously stood there, the project was completed on time and within its original £6m budget. This is all the more remarkable given that the construction took place during a period when the site had five different 20
Recirculation owners – Lakeland, Meridian, Morpol, Marine Harvest and, finally, Cooke. “All of the companies involved had a great presence at the site and were all crucial to the success of the recirc system so far,” reflects General Manager, Andy Young. And the achievement didn’t go unnoticed by the Crown Estate either, with the company picking up the 2015 business development award, for the Furnace project, in June.
Challenges One of the biggest problems, says Richard, has been keeping the water temperature at the right level, and the site currently experiences a 5-5.5°C temperature difference between summer and winter. However, as Andy explains, there are currently plans afoot to install a titanium heat exchange system, submerged 15m down in Loch Fyne, which should allow them to maintain a fairly constant temperature throughout the year.
Adjustments “We had a lot of issues in the first year, as would be expected at a new site but the main aim was just to make the system work, while this year we’re able to do more fine-tuning,” Andy reflects.
fish directly onto wellboats from the facility, while they previously needed to be initially transported to Oban by lorry before being transferred onto wellboats. “It doesn’t save us any time in transportation, as the wellboats have to do a detour round the Mull of Kintyre,” says Andy, “but it does save us time in loading, as we can now load the fish in 6 hours instead of two days and definitely helps to minimise the stress for the fish.”
Future opportunities? The mort rate on site is an impressively low 0.23% and Andy hopes that the low stress levels at the site ought to be noted by certification schemes, such as Freedom Food. “We’re hoping that sustainability standards such as Freedom Foods will be able to create new criteria for recirc systems and we are planning to hold a meeting with Freedom Foods in November. Stocking densities are currently limited to 50kg per m3 but we’d like to see this increased to 70kg per m3 in recirc systems. “We also feel that the maximum water temperature could be raised to 18°C and we’re trying to work with Freedom Foods to see if this can be done,” he explains
One notable improvement is that, thanks to the construction of a new pontoon at Furnace, the company can now load
Quick facts Ground broken – 2012 First eggs delivered – January 2014 First smolts put to sea – October 2014 Cost - £6m Capacity - 4 million 100g smolts per year Footprint – 1000 m2 Staff – 11 Daily water usage - 144 m3 Key equipment providers - Akva, BOC No of recirc systems - 2 Biofilter type - moving bed and fixed bed
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Recirculation
Salmon Review Chile
Jaime Muñoz, freshwater manager at Marine Harvest Chile in front of ‘Rauco’, the first smolt farm with RAS technology in Chile, which was built in 2005.
Losing the lead
Ten years ago, Chile was the world’s largest producer of smolts in RASs. Now the country is no longer at the top of the list, however, allegedly due to limited investment capacity. Christian Pérez | christian@salmonexpert.cl
It was the year 2000 when Salmones Camanchaca started building the first RAS facility in Chile. According to the company, with an annual production capacity of about 15 million smolts ‘Río Petrohué’ is still the largest farm of its kind in the whole world. Later on, several other Chilean companies followed the same path. By 2008 there were 16 RAS facilities in Chile, compared to 9 in Norway the same year. Óscar Garay, one of the pioneers in this technology in the country said that by the year 2013 there were 28 RAS facilities in Chile and 30 in Norway. This year, one of those Chilean farms was lost due to the eruption of the Calbuco volcano: ‘Río Blanco’ belonging to Marine Harvest Chile. By contrast, the number in Norway increased to 32, while there are another
2 under construction. As additional comparison, today there are almost 150 freshwater facilities with open flow technology in Chile. What situation slowed down those investments in RAS? Allegedly, these land-based farms are victims of the hard economic times currently faced by the Chilean salmon industry.
Investment ‘Chaicas’, belonging to Aquachile, and ‘Río Hollemberg’, belonging to Salmones Magallanes, are two of the most recent RAS facilities built in Chile. The first one required an investment of about US$ 23 million in 2012 to produce 4 million smolts of 150g per year and 100 million eggs including a complete genetic program wit21
Salmon Review Chile
Recirculation costs are mainly driven by mortality rates and energy costs. “A well-managed RAS facility should have the lowest production costs, regardless the higher initial investment, as they record lower mortalities and optimized FCRs and therefore, require less feed to achieve the same weight, for example,” he said.
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Óscar Garay, farming director at Salmones Magallanes.
The higher energy costs in RAS technologies are fully compensated through improved efficiency and better control of the production timing.
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families, while the second one required around US$ 21 million in 2013 to produce 5 million smolts of 100-150g per year. According to the farming director of Salmones Magallanes, Óscar Garay, after considering construction costs in Chile – depending on where the project will be raised – the average investment required would be around US$ 2.5 per smolt and of about US$ 10 per kg to fatten fish in RAS. “That's a quick calculation that does not include, for example, economies of scale”, he said. ‘Río Hollemberg’ is the latest large RAS project that came to life in the country. The freshwater manager of Marine Harvest Chile, Jaime Muñoz, believes that the Chilean salmon industry no longer builds large RAS projects due to the current economic situation. Moreover, several ongoing projects were cancelled or postponed until further notice. With a production capacity close to 6,3 million smolts of 150g, ‘Rauco’ is the only Smolt RAS facility belonging to Marine Harvest Chile plus Pichichanlelfu (Fry production) and Trainel (Ongrowing production), while the company does not have plans yet to replace ‘Río Blanco’ after it was destroyed due to the eruption of the Calbuco volcano in late April 2015.
Operational costs Operating costs do not depend much on whether it is open flow or RAS technology, said Óscar Garay. In his opinion, these 22
Meanwhile, Jaime Muñoz considers that when the water inlet is driven by gravity, open flow systems have cheaper operational costs. “However, controlling temperature might be a problem, usually requiring more time to reach the same fish size. When the facility use pumps to supply water, then costs are similar to those of RAS technologies,” he said. Additionally, he commented that in open flow systems it is more difficult to control the water quality, potentially leading to more problems with heavy metals, for example. Torben Petersen, general manager of Aquachile and former responsible of several RAS facilities in different companies in the past – such as ‘Río Petrohué’, ‘Río Blanco’ and ‘Rauco’ – also commented that the higher energy costs in RAS technologies are fully compensated through improved efficiency and better control of the production timing “which allow us to produce more batches of fish per year,” he said. However, he believes that there is room for RAS facilities and for conventional farms too. “Rivers, lakes and estuaries can be competitive in sanitary and productive terms as well,” he said. Furthermore, he believes it’s a wasted opportunity that Chile is not using all these productive capacities. “There is a discriminatory regulation in the use of rivers, lakes and estuaries to produce smolts, which could well be use under our current sanitary guidelines,” he said.
Post smolts, not yet There is a broad consensus regarding the benefits of producing larger smolts, socalled post smolts, in RAS facilities. Improved control over environmental variables leading to decreased mortality rates and reduced exposure to sea water conditions and its natural pathogens, such as sea lice, are among those advantages.
Recirculation Nonetheless, there are no companies producing post-smolts in large scale in Chile. According to Jaime Muñoz, there is pressure in the salmon industry to reduce the time fish are exposed to the sea. “When producing smolts of 200-250g in RAS facilities, you can reduce the time at the sea by 2-3 months compared with 100g smolt and, subsequently, reduce the sanitary risks involved,” he said. His company is currently producing smolts larger than the national average. In this sense, he considers that the only limitation to produce even larger smolts is the lack of financing capacity in the Chilean salmon industry. Óscar Garay agrees in this last point, although he added that there is also some fear and distrust in this kind of production. “Just like with RAS technologies at first,” he said. His company was intended to reinvest in its RAS facility this year, in order to produce post smolts of around 350-400g. “However, strong algal blooms affected some of our sea sites last year and therefore our finances, so we have postponed this investment until 2017,” he said.
Salmon Review Chile
In addition, Torben Petersen said that the other main limitations to producing larger smolts are the Chilean regulations about farming density and sanitary fallows. “That is because in Norway the regulation sets the maximum allowed biomass, while in Chile it also regulates the timing of the production cycle. Thus, we have to deal with mandatory sanitary fallows when smolts cannot be stocked. Additionally, the stocking density in a site can be reduced from one year to another as a result of biological performance, also affecting how many smolts we can stock,” he said, adding that producing larger smolts demands detailed planning regarding the number of fish and dates for stocking them.
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Strong algal blooms affected some of our sea sites last year and therefore our finances, so we have postponed this investment until 2017.
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In the past eight years, there were almost 15 projects intended to create new RAS facilities in Chile. Only two of them materialized. The lack of financing seems to have slowed down the progression of this trend and, apparently, only time and money can revitalize this once widespread activity
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Río Hollemberg “Furthermore, in order to protect the environmental characteristics and to minimize the impact on the landscape, we have worked and invested heavily in architecture, so that the industrial plant does not alter the development of tourism and environmental features in Magallanes,” said Óscar Garay, farming director of Salmones Magallanes. The latest investment in a large RAS facility was ‘Río Hollemberg’ belonging to Salmones Magallanes and located in the town of Puerto Natales. This farm started operating in mid-2013. Today, this construction is approximately 6,300 m2 and consists of seven different epidemiological units, from hatchery (incubation of eyed eggs) to smolt
production. These units include stateof-the-art disinfection systems and water treatment. This is the first of three construction stages planned by the company. The second stage implies producing 1,400 tonnes of smolts per year while the third one would start by the end of this decade to enlarge the production capacity up to 2,800 tonnes of smolts per year.
Energy Currently, this facility produces its own electricity through fuel generators because the location is off the grid. “We are monitoring environmental conditions and wind generation capacity in the area, to identify potential alternatives of generation and supply in future stages of this project,” said Garay.
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Salmon Review Canada
On the hotplate
Fish farm in B.C.
aquaculture in the face of climate change Laura Braden and Tamara Russell
Foreword Climate change affects the physiology, development, reproduction, behaviour, food supply, and survival of marine species by influencing factors such as water temperature, disease spread, salinity, oxygen, and acidity. Species are projected to shift their latitudinal and depth ranges, changing the community composition of native marine species and allowing for invasions of non-native species. Climate change is acting to decouple the timing of resource requirements and resource availability for some species, impairing their reproduction and development. The effects of ocean acidification on marine biodiversity, although not yet well understood, are likely to be far-reaching and complex.
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Aquatic ecology will be less tolerant to wide temperature ranges than its terrestrial counterparts, and the rate at which natural habitat changes will challenge the adaptive capacity of species. As predicted by earlier research, temperature changes have a direct impact on the species suitable for farming in any specified area and will indirectly influence other factors such as oxygen, pests, and the occurrence of toxic algal blooms. For both finfish and shellfish farmers, increased disease outbreaks are a major concern. The following attempts to summarise the major effects of a changing environment on aquatic life, with a main focus on aquaculture in Canada.
Aquaculture in the face of climate change Increased water temperatures and accompanying hypoxia associated with accelerated climate change have a strong potential to push many species out of their optimal physiological ranges, including Atlantic salmon. As fish reach the upper and lower ranges of optimal physiological conditions, there are significant impacts on growth, condition factor, and of particular importance, immuno-competence (Figure 3). Alongside these effects are the increased potential for disease emergence of known and novel pathogens. With respect to current Atlantic salmon broodstock, there are no available physiological or genetic data about the
Salmon Review Canada
Records maintained by salmon farmers show that water temperatures on both west and east coasts of Canada continue to increase. A 2°C increase above historical levels was observed in 2009 in New Brunswick – and reoccurred in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Further to this, warming water trends are persisting for longer periods of times. Aquaculture producers and stakeholders presently have more than enough challenges without having to address the realities of climate change. However, the pending scope of these effects on seafood production are too important to ignore. Wisely, climate change and aquaculture sessions are becoming regular themes at aquaculture meetings. Aquaculturists are intimately linked with the local environmental conditions, and perhaps more than any other industry, depend on the environment for successful operations. Water temperature is a critical aspect of site suitability, with the decision to proceed with a facility directly impacted by the expected temperature ranges. For example, the temperature range in which a given species of fish can survive is, in general, more restrictive than for terrestrial livestock, and an anticipated change of a few degrees may mean the difference between a successful aquaculture venture and an unsuccessful one. Each species cultured has an optimal growth temperature. The health of the fish stock will be more resilient in the range of temperatures preferred by the species, as the stress levels and vulnerability of the individuals to disease will be reduced. Additionally, the range of fish pathogens will also be restricted by temperatures and warmer waters will inevitability result in an increase of disease outbreaks.
Year-to-Date Global Temperature
for 2015 and the six warmest years on record
+1.0 +0.9 difference (°C) from 20th century average
effect of elevated temperatures and hypoxia on the immunological response. Furthermore, fully understanding the mechanisms associated with adaptive immunity in teleosts will be imperative for disease prevention and management in the midst of changing global environmental conditions.
+0.8 +0.7 2015 2014 2010 2013 2005 2009 1998
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Global Year to Date Temperature Anomalies Figure 1. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: Global Analysis for October 2015, published online November 2015, retrieved on December 8, 2015 from http://www.ncdc.noaa. gov/sotc/global/201510.
Temperature variations by only a few degrees can have serious implications for both shellfish and finfish operations, with the potential to cause anoxia, harmful algal blooms, disease outbreaks, and reduced feed conversion. Having said that, temperature rises can have positive influences on growth rate. Another positive outcome of increased temperatures may be the availability of sites on northern coastlines of Canada that have historically been restricted to aquaculture development by cold temperatures. For aquaculture, increased storm conditions are also a major concern. Many coastal processes, such as sediment transport, take place during storms. Therefore, increasing storm activity may initiate bottom changes, erosion or other such events that will have an impact on the facility, in addition to wind and wave activity. Therefore, facility designs (eg cages and moorings) will need to be re-evaluated to cope with increasingly extreme weather activity. Facilities may also be threatened by high water events due to storm surges, and high waters are accompanied by greater vulnerability to wave action and currents.
With respect to Canadian aquaculture, mitigation and research on climate change include the following possibilities: - Relocation of farms. - Sourcing alternative feed ingredients. - Diversification of products (IMTA). - Changes to husbandry and time to market. - Engineering solutions to prepare for changing marine conditions. - Emergency response plans. - Investigate adaption potential. - Collaboration between finfish and shellfish industries. - Regional mitigation solutions. There is a dire need to establish baseline and historical conditions, as well as to tie aquaculture development with regional projections (storm frequency, severity, rainfall, etc). Perhaps more importantly, respective issues that are pertinent for shellfish and finfish aquaculture need to be prioritised. This need to discuss what the research priorities are for the industry catalysed the development of a workshop funded by the National Science & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
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Salmon Review Canada limit the attendance. Their ultimate goal was to understand how climate change is affecting aquaculture in Canada, to create achievable actions to help mitigate current struggles and to prevent future issues. While the workshops were funded by NSERC, increased funding from target stakeholders was also discussed.
Figure 2 Dead sockeye from the Somass River, Port Alberni, BC. Extreme pre-spawn mortality was observed as river temperatures reached 25.9°C
“What was obvious from these events is that climate change is a deep concern for all industries – members of the industry see themselves as environmental stewards and want to be involved to make positive change,” said Dr Gurney-Smith.
NSERC workshop: climate change and aquaculture in Canada This past year Dr Gregor Reid (University of New Brunswick/St Andrews’s Biological Station) decided to create a platform for discussing climate change and its impacts on aquaculture – bringing together industry, government, and academia. The 2-day NSERC Partnership Workshop was hosted by the University of New Brunswick and the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association (ACFFA), in collaboration with the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, with the goal to connect the aquaculture industry with researchers and managers to understand how the impacts of climate change may affect their industry and strategise research
approaches to ensure the viability of Canadian aquaculture. The first workshop, held at St Andrews Biological Station in New Brunswick, was so successful that it was replicated again on the west coast of Canada, both with Dr Reid and with his western Canada colleague Dr Helen Gurney-Smith at the Centre for Shellfish Research at Vancouver Island University, in order to get a nationwide perspective on the topic. Both events targeted finfish and shellfish, and in the workshops there were comments from industry folk who said it was the first time that finfish and shellfish were in the same room to talk about the same topic. The workshops aimed to be interactive meetings where members from the industry, government and academia could voice concerns freely, so it was decided to
Rate
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Rising temperature Good
Figure 3 Optimal temperature ranges for physiological processes in fish. Figure printed with permission from Dr Tillmann Benfey, University of New Brunswick.
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It was important to be able compare exactly the same topics from east to west both to look at national and regional issues; therefore, there was a formula laid out for each workshop. Each workshop was preceded by a literature review to assure that everyone in attendance was up to date with the current literature on climate change. The aim was to make a distilled version of the current knowledge for industry, to give them practical information on issues that will affect them in a way that was accessible. It seems that many contradicting academic papers make it difficult to predict what Canada will face in regards to climate change. Adding complex synergistic effects makes it even more difficult to predict if climate change anomalies will be additive or not. The two workshops identified some similar issues that are present on both coasts, but there are also some unique problems that are specific to the Pacific or Atlantic. On the east coast, pathogens – such as salmon lice – are a big concern in finfish aquaculture (and are on the rise with increasing temperatures), while heavy storms are more of an issue than on the west coast. In contrast, a large concern for finfish aquaculture on the west coast is harmful algae and anoxia events from upwelling. Shellfish growers on both coasts, but particularly on the west, are concerned about changing temperatures and ocean acidification. Overwhelmingly on both coasts, the two biggest issues were lack of data, such as water quality monitoring data. The
Salmon Review Canada capacity for government monitoring of climate change effects in Canada is limited; however, aquaculture sites offer an incredible opportunity for monitoring sites that are industry run and historic monitoring sites for each company are already established. The data is being collected, but isn’t standardised or freely available. The hope now is to be able to gather farm data and make it publically available in order to create historical databases which would then be able to judge whether climate change events are actually occurring. This will also help with identification of knowledge gaps, which will in turn help to better allocate resources for achieving climate change solutions.
Progress since the last workshop Since the last workshop there has been much headway made on the data sharing initiative, which was the number one priority laid out by industry at the workshop, and is being led by Dr Gurney. The plan is to be able to have an online database that is user-friendly for both the public and aquaculture industry. She is working with a team from the workshops to make this database available as soon as possible. Furthermore, she and Dr Reid are writing up the full workshop proceedings in order to send them to industry and government – a move backed strongly by the industry. In regards to the issues Canadian aquaculture faces, the two workshops were able to answer “Where are we? What do we know? Where do we go from here, and where should we put our efforts and focus our research?” The workshops demonstrated not only the need for all groups to work together if they want to continue to function in a changing ocean, but that all groups are already willing and able to rise to the occasion. The points of discussion at both the Atlantic and Pacific workshops included: 1.) warming waters, 2.) storms and rising waters, 3.) fish and shellfish health, and 4.) ocean acidification.
Warming waters The temperatures of the coastal waters off Canada’s east and west coasts are projected to increase by an average of 1°C over the next 20-30 years. A significant effect of warming waters is the redistribution of species as they attempt to find temperature optima. With aquatic species, this redistribution will largely involve moving towards the poles. A study last year by University of BC (UBC) scientists concluded that expected climate changes will push west coast marine species northward an average of about 30 km/decade. Rising temperatures are especially detrimental to aquatic organisms that rely on the external environment to regulate their body temperatures (poikilotherms). For example, in 2014 was the first sightings of black fish (Tauyoga ontis), and black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in the Bay of Fundy. Over the past few years, Marine Harvest Canada staff have reported seeing many exotic species, including a large sunfish (Mola mola) on the west coast of Vancouver Island (Figure 4). More recently, a species of dolphin never observed before off the coast of BC was spotted. This species of dolphin generally does not venture north of California, but unusually warm ocean conditions this year have attracted them northwards. Range redistribution of species is well documented and has the potential to introduce new species, but particularly regional predators. Giant Humboldt squid, once rare in BC waters, have been reported in growing
numbers off the province’s coast. Called “diablos rojos” (red devils) in Mexico, the voracious squids are armed with more than 1,000 suction cups and lethally sharp beaks. The Humboldt, which grows to more than two metres long and 100 lbs, has been known to attack scuba divers. Perhaps more importantly is their voracious appetite for juvenile salmon. They hunt in schools of up to 1,200 and eat most things they can get their suckers on, including salmon, shrimp, molluscs, and when they’re hurt or trapped in nets, other Humboldt squid (Figure 5). Changing geographical ranges of organisms isn’t limited to Canadian waters. Climate change is leading to profound population changes in most common fish species in waters off the UK as well. While colder water species such as cod and haddock will not thrive in warmer water, those that can do well in warmer conditions including hake, dab, and red mullet will flourish. The northeast Atlantic has been described as the "cauldron of climate change", with some scientists reporting that over the last 30 years warming has increased at a rate four times the global average. Because waters around the British Isles are shallow and varied, they can be "invaded" more easily. Research from the Technical University of Denmark shows a similar trend – the rise in ocean temperatures has encouraged fish species to migrate northwards. Danes could soon be fishing for swordfish and anchovies instead of cod and herring, according to Mark Payne from the Technical University of Denmark.
Figure 4 The warm-water loving sunfish (Mola mola) has been observed for the last few years in the waters around farm sites on Vancouver Island. (Photo credit: Sarah Harding, Marine Harvest Canada).
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Salmon Review Canada growth rates, while exceeding optimal temperature ranges will cause stress, impaired immune function, and increased susceptibility to disease.
Harmful algal blooms
Figure 5 Typically found off the coast of California, giant Humboldt squid are new to the waters off Vancouver Island. (Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium).
Storms and rising waters Sea lice The mean sea level has increased almost 20 cm during 1901-2010, with the 19932010 rate 3X faster than 1901 to 1993. On the whole of increase, the industry is seeing more severe storms, more frequently. It is projected that increased storm frequency will rise with rapid temperature change. Severe weather events have long been associated with escapees from aquaculture farms, and both the industry and eNGOs have acknowledged the seriousness of this issue. There is some industry awareness that cage-design should account for increasing severe weather events. Furthermore, increases in storms and precipitation promote siltation, rapid salinity change and flooding, which are extremely detrimental to shellfish growth. More shellfish closures are expected with increased winter precipitation and flooding events due to elevated freshwater runoff carrying faecal coliforms, which is hard on the industry. There is more uncertainty in wave projections, but sea level rise and less ice cover will make more space for waves. A web-based planning tool to estimate allowances for extreme sea level associated with climate change will soon be online.
Fish and shellfish health Rapid changes in temperature have been associated with outbreaks of endemic disease. Increased temperatures can facilitate pathogen growth, cause changes in wild fish host range, and alter metabolism of drugs used for treating pathogens. 28
As a result of increasing water temperatures in the Bay of Fundy, for example, an increase in the prevalence of sea lice was observed in both 2009 and 2010, in some areas in 2012, and again in 2014. Because of high temperatures and lack of stable access to sea lice treatment products, production was cut back in 2011 and 2012, which had a significant impact on both jobs and revenue in the region. Although infections with sea lice in BC do not pose the same problem as on the east coast, salmon farmers noticed this past year that lice abundance was higher than usual, corresponding with the warmer water temperatures and lower freshwater runoff. Sea lice eggs can hatch and develop between 2°C and 10°C, but need at least >4°C to complete their lifecycle. Cooler waters in the winter months have a lower incidence of infection, but warming waters increase infestation potential on farms. Warmer waters also mean that the geographical distribution for hosts and parasites may increase in the aquatic environment. Overall, the temperature increases will reduce the time to complete the life cycle of the salmon louse, increasing their productivity, and having associated negative impacts on salmon aquaculture.
Optimal physiology
The effects of temperature are wideranging and include enzyme reactions, metabolism, oxygen demand, cell division, development, growth, and reproduction. Increases in mean temperature within thermal tolerances with accelerate
This past summer the west coast experienced a coast-wide bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. There were several species of Pseudo-nitzschia in the bloom, but the extremely toxic Pseudo-nitzschia australis was prevalent. Pseudo-nitzschia australis, a species that is not typically found in BC, bloomed from California up to Alaska in the largest toxic algae bloom ever recorded. It produces domoic acid, which causes Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning. There are a number of hypotheses about why this bloom occurred, the leading being an influence from the "warm blob" – an oceanographic phenomenon currently occurring in the northeastern Pacific, likely due disrupted currents caused by climate change. The bloom seemed to ebb off in the summer around BC. However, the Harmful Algae Monitoring Program at Vancouver Island University and Dr Vera Trainer’s harmful algae group from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA) have detected and confirmed Pseudonitzschia australis in November in the Strait of Georgia, which is extremely late in the plankton season. Thus, the bloom persists. Toxic algal blooms are not just affecting fisheries – this past summer more than two dozen dead whales washed up on BC and Alaska shores, and scientists are suggesting toxic algae is at fault. Dr Andrew Trites, a UBC professor studying the whale deaths, says domoic acid has been bioaccumulating in the krill and sardines many whales eat. If it gets passed on to mammals or birds in large quantities, it can cause brain damage, permanent short-term memory loss, seizures, and death. Dr Trites said a similar situation is also happening in California, where other creatures like sea lions, seals and seabirds
Salmon Review Canada have been dying since the bloom began in early summer. Due to the warm winter and early melt of last winter the spring diatom bloom occurred three weeks earlier than usual in the Strait of Georgia. Many researchers were concerned with match-mismatch events leading to food shortages for young of the year salmon. The monitoring of this situation is still ongoing. The spring diatom bloom which is typically followed by the summer flagellates continued well into August all over BC in monitoring areas. Interestingly, Pseudonitzschia spp. are diatoms and likely benefited from the same environmental conditions that were elongating the season of the other diatoms. This is atypical and we have yet to understand the effects of these blooms. It could be that it has actually led to an increase in secondary productivity, but this is currently being investigated. Plankton blooms are not unusual events. Annual blooms of the Raphidophyceae Heterosigma akashiwo occur naturally in the Strait of Georgia. It is an oceanographic event which can be predicted using the annual peak flow of the Fraser River, which Heterosigma is highly dependent on for nutrients. However, this year, for the first time ever recorded, the Heterosigma bloom didn't occur. This is likely due to a match-mismatch event due to the early peak flow of the Fraser River from such a warm winter last year. Typically, aquaculture sees Heterosigma as a nuisance alga, because it is one of the worst fish killers on our coast. So, for many, not seeing Heterosigma was a good thing. However, since this is such a large annual event and the marine food web is so complex, there is no telling yet what effect this will have on the ecosystem. On the western side of Vancouver Island, the Clayoquot Sound aquaculture region – which is not connected to the Fraser River nutrient input – experienced an atypically late bloom of Heterosigma in late October/early November, resulting in fish kills at some farm sites. Warming waters are contributing to more intense and longer algal blooms globally,
Figure 6 A Massive alga bloom that spanned from California to Alaska.
but it may also be contributing to certain species of algae moving northward.
Ocean acidification (OA)
The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed the following points: - The oceans have become a sink for 93% of the earth’s additional energy inventory. - There is a significant rise in sea level, which is attributed largely to thermal expansion of seawater and glacier melting. - There is increased stratification, wave heights, and size of oxygen minima zones (dead zones) throughout all oceanic systems. - Anthropogenic CO2 has caused a gradual decrease in pH (by ~26%) since the beginning of the industrial era. The first significant industry loss due to OA was in 2007, when a mass mortality in shellfish hatcheries in Washington State resulted in $110 millions in losses.
Originally, researchers thought it was caused by a bacterial outbreak, but after further analysis determined the cause was very severe, very widespread OA. Washington State got their senator to pool several people together: government, industry, and academics. This team created a knowledge base for OA current issues and were able to conduct some truly robust research efforts. The group, which became known as the Blue Ribbon Panel, presented their plea for governmental action in DC, backed by industry-wide support and robust data. Their voice was very cohesive and effective, and the panel has been able to leverage government support to tackle OA in the US. They have now published a paper on the impacts and mitigation of OA and are leaders in today’s battle against ocean acidification. Dr Kumiko Azetsu-Scott from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) described what is known as “Canada’s Acid Highway” – whereby CO2 rich water from the Pacific flows through
Figure 7 Humpback whales washed up on several beaches in BC this summer, after consuming domoic-acid contaminated krill.
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Salmon Review Canada
Figure 8 Canada’s “acid” highway. Printed with permission by Dr Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, DFO.
the Arctic, picking up sea ice meltwater (low pH), and outflowing into the Atlantic (Figure 8). This water is then subjected to further anthropogenic CO2 uptake and is even further acidified. Increased CO2, in conjunction with the resultant increase in acidity, is of particular concern for hatching success, larval survival, and early-rearing of shellfish and some finfish. Ocean acidity decreases the saturation of aragonite (the crystalline form of calcium carbonate), which in general results in a reduction of the calcification ability during shell formation. In Washington State, natural oyster beds were reportedly failing and hatchery problems first identified in 2005. One hatchery suffered an 80% reduction in larval oyster production in 2009. Increasingly unproductive clam flats in Maine have prompted volunteer pH monitoring, and reports that clam flats require a pH of 7.8 or higher to be productive. Industry collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified 100’s of acres of unproductive clam flats at a pH of 7.0, prompting exhaustive efforts to buffer the flats with additional calcium carbonate such as crushed shells, with some success. 30
Some peer reviewed studies of CO2/ acidity showed a detrimental effect on finish larval hatching/survival (Menidia beryllina). To date, there are only a few industry reports of finfish problems with acidity so far. Although, one pertinent example for aquaculture is how wolf eel eggs will not hatch at a pH of 7.3. So, it remains to be seen how OA will affect the finfish industry. During the climate change workshops, several knowledge gaps were determined, including identification of the physiological stressors caused OA and the acute v chronic effect on aquatic organisms. Preparing aquaculture for climate change For salmon farmers, climate change poses a new set of challenges. While higher water temperatures can support faster growth rates for fish, they are accompanied by lower dissolved oxygen, which has a negative effect on physiological parameters, coupled with increased vulnerability to disease. For example, little information is available on how Atlantic salmon will cope with infectious diseases with the added pressure of higher water temperatures. There are so many parameters to asses when discussing climate change in regards
to our fisheries and aquaculture. From the host of changes we may see – from increasing temperatures like changing geographical ranges of species, increased spread of disease and algal blooms, decreased survivability, and positively inflated growth rates in aquaculture to the extremely detrimental ocean acidification – and the picture becomes ever more complex to paint. Having said that, the need to work together to solve the climaterelated issues which are already wreaking havoc is becoming ever more imperative. Workshops like those organised by Drs Gurney-Smith and Gregor are increasingly vital to help us understand what exactly we are dealing with, and what we can do to mitigate against the negative impacts via respectful, collaborative, and determined dialogue.
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In the face of climate change, aquaculture must be prepared to adapt
Salmon Review Norway
The giant plants will have a feed storage capacity of thousands of tonnes, fixed cranes and hoists related to "rail cars" on rails along the side and garage in the stern. Photo: NSK Ship Design
The shape
of farms to come? NSK Ship Design has drawn up a plan for a fish farming ‘ship’, commissioned by the salmon producer Nordlaks, which they believe could be the start of a revolution in sustainable aquaculture. Therese Soltveit | therese@kyst.no
The Havfarm (Ocean Farm) project will have a capacity to grow 10,000 tonnes of salmon – a total of over two million fish – per cycle, something they believe can be classified as nothing less than sensational for the aquaculture industry. Recently the Government of Norway promised free licenses to farmers who will make major investments in new technology to overcome the industry's challenges with environmental issues and the use of space. Shortly after, Nordlaks CEO Inge Berg launched the company’s plans in response to the invitation. “The project will take advantage of the infrastructure and the comparative advantages Norway's aquaculture nation by opening larger areas,” says Berg.
Nordlaks plans to build three farms at a cost of NOK 600-700 million (£47-55 million) each, should they be able to obtain the necessary number of licences. “The idea behind the ocean farm is far from new in-house, but it is during the last few months that the idea has been developed into the concept that we present today,” Berg told Norsk Fiskeoppdrett. He hopes that the new concept can be upand-running by the end of 2017, that is if they get acceptance for some of the new licences. The project has so far involved a dozen highly qualified Nordlaks employees as well as external contributions from companies including NSK Ship Design, Egersund Net and APL Norway/National
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Recently the Government of Norway promised free licenses to farmers who will make major investments in new technology.
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Salmon Review Norway Review “The ship will be able to endure ten metres significant wave height and can be jacked up four meters in storms. It will stretch down to a depth of ten meters into the sea and will act as a steel frame for six ‘cages’ that have a surface area of 50x50m and contain 60-metre-deep nets,” says NSK’s sales manager Thomas Myhre, who is based in Harstad.
Inge Berg Nordlaks
Sales Manager Thomas Myhre
Oilwell Varco. The project itself has gathered existing knowledge and technology in ship design, offshore and aquaculture, and given it a new way.
Plans
Nordlaks selected NSK because they already have a strong presence in the aquaculture market, designing everything from sea pens to LNG-powered fish feed carriers and wellboats. “In our opinion, it’s a very good concept all we need now is to be granted licences so that we can realize the project,” says Berg.
On the drawing board the vessel is 430 metres long and 54 metres wide and will be anchored to the seabed using technological solutions adopted from the offshore industry, taking the farming industry from the fjords and out in the open sea. If the project is realized as presented, it will become the world's longest ship, largest even that the American aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise.
He says the concept's framework is clear, but if permitted, they will proceed with more detailed planning.
Implications “Realization of the ocean farm project will help to develop the Norwegian aquaculture industry by facilitating future growth at sustainable terms. The project will take advantage of the infrastructure and the natural advantages of the country’s aquaculture industry by opening larger new areas for farming,” says Berg. “We believe the ocean farms will be the area where the aquaculture industry can most cash in on the potential future growth, as a supplement to existing sites,” says Berg. He adds that Nordlaks does not intend to produce such farms for sale, but the technology will be widely available.
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The offshore plant will accommodate more than 10,000 tonnes of fish. The ship is 430 metres long – 70 metres longer than the world's largest cruise ship.
The price tag for an investment like this is between 600-700 million NOK (£47-55 million) per farm. Nordlaks has applied to build three.
When they contacted Inge Berg, the company had been playing with the idea of creating larger structures from scratch. Berg came up with several ideas of how to move from traditional ongrowing cages to farming ships in the open sea, and this started the ball rolling for the companies behind the invention. Nordlaks and NSK plan to equip the cage with a steel lice skirt to a depth of ten metres so that the parasites will be history. They state that when the ocean farm lies at anchor, waste will be spread over an area 27 times as large as that of conventional farm – 472,000 square meters. If sea lice appear despite the precautions, the plant will be equipped with tools for the manual removal of lice to ensure totally
Salmon Review Norway
The Havfarm (Ocean Farm) will be able to withstand harsh weather conditions and wave heights of ten metres.
non-chemical production. Chemicals against lice are both a major topic of environmental debate and a huge expense for the industry. This will change the direction of an industry that has struggled with major lice problems for many years, the company reported.
“Our staff in Harstad have great expertise in project management, and together with our engineering team in Archangel, we had enough expertise to bring the whole concept to life. Nordlaks, have now given us a unique chance to realize the project,” says Myhre
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Nordlaks does not intend to produce such farms for sale, but the technology will be widely available.
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The idea is a result of close cooperation between NSK Ship Design, formerly North Norwegian Skipskonsult, and the salmon producer Nordlaks.
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R&D
Phosphorus Helen Ann Hamilton
consumption in Norway: challenges and opportunities for a rapidly growing aquaculture industry Helen Ann Hamilton looks at the consumption and emissions of phosphorus by Norway’s aquaculture industry and suggests that developing systems to recycle phosphorus emissions might be essential, especially if the industry wishes to achieve its ambitions to grow five-fold by 2050.
Why is phosphorus important? Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for cell growth in plants and animals and is, thus, vital for all life. Because of this, the largest consumption of phosphorus is as fertilizer, as its use allows for high crop yields. Historically, phosphorus fertilizers were sourced from secondary forms – such as manure, human excreta, bat guano and harvest residues. However, the discovery of phosphate rock in the 20th century has drastically improved our access to phosphorus, which has led to our ability to feed a much larger population. While phosphate rock is credited for feeding billions of people, it is a limited resource, with the largest commercially viable phosphate deposits being concentrated in geopolitically sensitive areas such as Morocco and occupied Western Sahara. This, combined with the over-consumption of fertilizers, makes future phosphorus access particularly vulnerable to resource shortages.
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In addition, phosphorus acts as a pollutant if accumulated in sensitive water bodies. Phosphorus has been characterized as the limiting factor for eutrophication (rapid algal growth that leads to oxygen depleted zones) in certain aquatic ecosystems. This response can be triggered when fertilizers are overapplied to agricultural soils, resulting in phosphorus runoff and nutrient loading in nearby lakes, rivers and marine systems.
optimizing anthropogenic phosphorus use. Therefore, using Norway as a case study, we have for the first time conducted a phosphorus balance of the aquaculture, fisheries and agriculture sectors together on a national scale.
Is aquaculture a large driver of phosphorus consumption?
This was in order to: i) quantify the current phosphorus flows within these sectors and identify sectoral linkages; ii) examine how future aquaculture growth will affect phosphorus consumption and losses; and iii) identify challenges and opportunities for cross-sectoral synergies.
Resource scarcity and environmental pollution makes improved phosphorus management of particular importance. To date, phosphorus flow analyses – which quantify the sources, flows, losses, stocks and sinks of phosphorus – have focused entirely on agriculture as the primary driver of consumption. However, the projected rapid growth of aquaculture and its dependency on agriculture for feed ingredients exemplifies the need to analyze these sectors together for
The results from our average 2009-2011 study show that, in Norway, aquaculture and agriculture drive phosphorus consumption and losses at similar levels. The phosphorus contained in imported plant products for fish feed production is larger than domestic fertilizer consumption and currently amounts to almost one third of the phosphorus imported to Norway. Additionally, aquaculture is the biggest source of phosphorus emissions to water bodies,
R&D resulting in 9 kilotonnes of phosphorus entering the water per year. While animal manure is spread on nearby agricultural land, partially reusing the phosphorus it contains, almost all fish scrap, feed losses and fish excrements are lost to the sea. Although not considered in the study, the total amount of phosphorus needed for producing the imported plant ingredients for fish feed is much greater than the phosphorus contained within the feed products. This is due to the phosphorus, in the form of fertilizers, needed to grow the plants, such as soy and canola, abroad.
How will a fivefold growth in aquaculture affect phosphorus consumption and losses?
Scenarios
According to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters and the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences, a fivefold growth in production volumes, from 1 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes of salmon and trout, is anticipated by the Norwegian aquaculture industry by 2050. We model this growth scenario to determine how this could affect the phosphorus demand and losses. The results highlight the future importance of aquaculture, as such steep growth would lead to an inevitable drastic increase in phosphorus losses and consumption, far exceeding that of the agriculture sector. Imported fish feed needed to sustain the growth would increase to 55 kilotonnes of phosphorus per year, underlining the strong increase in reliance on imported feedstuffs. Phosphorus losses to marine waters would reach 45 kilotonnes per
year, thereby increasing the risk for eutrophication. However, in terms of phosphorus recycling, the amount of secondary phosphorus available for reuse would increase to amounts comparable to that of the production of fertilizers by Norway’s large fertilizer industry, Yara, which primarily serves the international market.
What are the major challenges and opportunities? A fivefold growth will present significant environmental and resource challenges. With phosphorus losses reaching such high levels, the risk of coastal marine water eutrophication significantly increases. Currently, the high flux rates of fjord waters minimize eutrophication concerns. However, drastic increases in phosphorus concentrations could exceed the flux capacity of the water bodies, leading to unwanted algal blooms and degraded water quality. This will have to be considered carefully when realizing future growth of the aquaculture industry. In addition, the dependency on imported ingredients will drastically increase. Norway does not have primary phosphorus resources and does not produce soy and other plant-based fish feedstuff and is, therefore, entirely dependent on the international market to fulfill this demand. This will result in larger international production which indirectly increases Norway’s phosphorus footprint, as agricultural practices abroad are likely to be based on mineral phosphorus with low levels of recycling.
Nonetheless, while future aquaculture growth will present large challenges, it would also represent opportunities for Norway to reduce its dependency on mineral phosphorus. Today, the use of secondary phosphorus both intra- and cross-sectorally is far from optimized. There are very low levels of phosphorus recycling and cross-sectoral links between aquaculture, fisheries and agriculture are few. However, the future development of technologies could enable the use of marine and agricultural by-products across the sectors, thereby reducing demand for mineral phosphorus. In aquaculture, for example, integrated multi-trophic production presents an opportunity to utilize harvested biomass to displace fish feedstuff needs. This would directly close the loop between fish feed and losses. In terms of potential cross-sectoral synergies, if all phosphorus in fish excrements and feed losses from aquaculture were recovered, this could present a means of completely displacing the agricultural industry’s demand for mineral phosphorus. In addition, with future growth, this represents a growing opportunity to displace not only Norwegian, but also the international demand for mineral phosphorus. This is due to the fact that phosphorus losses will likely reach levels several times that of domestic mineral fertilizer consumption, allowing for potential secondary phosphorus-based fertilizer exports. There are, of course, technological and logistical challenges that need to be overcome in order to realize this. However, if recovery and recycling systems can be developed, this could represent a solution to both a pollution and resource problem as well as reducing Norway’s dependency on imported phosphorus.
A. B. 0
20000
40000
60000
Potencial Secondary P sources (tonnes)
Manure Fish excrements and feed losses Meat and bone meal
Exported fish scraps Dumped fish scraps
80000
Sewage sludge Municipal solid waste
Figure 3 Potential secondary P sources for A. 2009–2011 and B. 2050 scenario in tonnes P.
Adapted from Hamilton, H. A., E. Brod, O. Hanserud, E.O. Gracey, A. Bøen, F. S. Steinhoff, D. B. Müller and H. Brattebø. Investigating Cross-Sectoral Synergies through Integrated Aquaculture, Fisheries and Agriculture Phosphorus Assessments, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2015.
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R&D
11
Imported food 4.9
9.4
Waste Human Food Processing Consumption Management 4.8 0.9
Husbandry products Plants for human consumption
Fish products
Wastewater
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Aquaculture / Fisheries
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Runoff
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Imported Caught fish fish feedstuff
Animal Husbandry
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Plant Production
Fertilizer Production 94
Imported husbandry feedstuff
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Exported mineral fertilizers
Imported phosphates
Incinerated Exported and waste landfilled waste
Figure 1 Norwegian phosphorus balance, 100 tonnes P, averaged 2009–2011 data. MBI = mass balance inconsistencies; MBM = meat bone meal; MSW = municipal solid waste; I = import; E = export Adapted from Hamilton, H. A., E. Brod, O. Hanserud, E.O. Gracey, A. Bøen, F. S. Steinhoff, D. B. Müller and H. Brattebø. Investigating Cross-Sectoral Synergies through Integrated Aquaculture, Fisheries and Agriculture Phosphorus Assessments, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2015.
About the author
Sources:
Helen Ann Hamilton is a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. She works in the Department of Energy and Process Engineering within the Industrial Ecology Program, specializing in material flow analysis and nutrient management. Her research interests focus on analyzing the metabolism of nutrients and energy within the anthroposphere and, in particular, how these flows interact with and affect natural systems. This is with the aim of developing methods for reducing resource consumption, closing resource loops and reducing the environmental impacts of human activities
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DKNVS (Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters) and NTVA (Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences). 2012. Verdiskaping basert på produktive hav i 2050 [Value created from productive oceans in 2050]. www. sintef.no/Fiskeri-og-HavbrukAS/Nyheter/Verdiskaping-basert-paproduktive-hav-i-2050. Accessed March 2014. Hamilton, HA; Brod, E; Hanserud, OS; Gracey, EO; Vestrum, MI; Bøen, A; Steinhoff, FS; Müller, DB; Brattebø, H. Investigating cross-sectional synergies through integrated aquculture, fisheries, and agriculture phosphorus assessments: A case study of Norway. J. Ind. Ecol. 2015, DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12324.
R&D
Gut bacteria breakthrough
The first complete picture of wild Atlantic salmon gut bacteria has just been published, paving the way for a more ecologically sustainable salmon farming industry. Rob Fletcher | rob@fishfarmingexpert.com Martin Llewellyn
The bacteria that colonize the internal and external epidermal surfaces of animals are thought to outnumber their host cells by at least 10 to 1. Adult humans contain over a kilogram of such organisms. If that wasn’t enough, the total number of different genes in your gut (your ‘metagenome’), outnumber the genes in your genome by a whopping 100-1.
Llewellyn (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow) and co-workers in Ireland, Scotland, Canada, USA and Wales took a first step towards understanding the key role of salmon gut bacteria in salmon health (http://www.nature. com/ismej/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ ismej2015189a.html)
Gut bacteria are known play a critical role in the lives of their vertebrate hosts. In human and mouse models it is increasingly clear that our immune system develops in close concert with our bacterial hitchhikers. Multiple aspects of digestion and nutrient metabolism are governed by our intestinal flora too. Herbivorous mammals, for example, are essentially just glorified fermentation vessels, brewing huge colonies of microbes in their stomachs to access energy locked up in plant material. It is safe to assume that your average brontosaurus was no less dependent on his gut bacteria to get him through the day. Animals and bacteria have been best of friends for a long, long time.
After two years intensive sampling from adult salmon feeding grounds in West Greenland, returning adults and freshwater juvenile salmon in Canada and Ireland, they have developed the first compete picture of wild Atlantic salmon gut bacterial diversity across the distribution of the species.
Our understanding of the bacterial diversity associated with fish in in its infancy. Nonetheless, the applications of an improved understanding of the fish ‘microbiome’ are considerable, especially in aquaculture. Multiple phenomena could be potentially addressed through microbiome manipulation: nutrient digestion, synthesis, absorption, disease resistance, growth, sexual maturation, morphogenesis, survivorship in stocked fish, to name a few. Earlier this month, researcher Dr Martin
The data show that bacterial community composition within the gut was not significantly impacted by geography. Instead life-cycle stage (parr, smolt, adult) strongly defined both the diversity and identity of gut microbial assemblages in the gut, with evidence of community destabilisation in migratory phases. Amongst other observations, Mycoplasmas were recovered in all life-cycle stages in huge abundance, suggesting a potentially vital role for this class of bacteria for gut health. Dr Llewellyn’s data pave the way for fundamental research in this field, including the development of probiotics, pre-biotics and even whole artificial bacterial communities to improve farmed salmon health and reduce the impact of salmon aquaculture on wild fish stocks. Dr Llewellyn told Fish Farming Expert: “Atlantic salmon farming now supports a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. In
the applications of an improved understanding of the fish ‘microbiome’ are considerable, especially in aquaculture.
Scotland the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry has a £1.4 billion turnover, supports 8000 jobs and predicts 30% growth by 2020. “Scottish expansion is unsustainable given the current reliance on over-exploited wild fish stocks as a primary ingredient in salmon feed, and poor growth efficiency on alternative plant-based feeds. This situation presents many new challenges to both fish and farmer. “Efficient digestion and absorbance of nutrients in food relies heavily on the bacteria present in our intestines – our so-called ‘microbiome’ – in humans as well as especially our herbivorous cousins (such as cows, horses, sheep). It is also increasingly apparent that good ‘gut health’ (ie healthy microbiomes) has wider links with everything from depression to cancer. “As the industry attempts to move farmed Atlantic salmon (carnivores in the wild) to more ecologically sustainable plantbased feeds, understanding the role of their gut bacteria becomes a vital consideration”
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R&D
Aberdeen backs
aquaculture expansion
The University of Aberdeen announced the establishment of the International Centre for Aquaculture Research and Development (ICARD) in early December, in a bid to promote aquaculture research, primarily in the areas of algal culture, shellfish and fish farming and nutrition. The move signals the university’s intent to devote greater resources to aquaculture, from across a broad spectrum of departments, and those behind the idea are keen that experts from various fields will be able to contribute to a renewed aquacultural research drive – one that helps attract grant funding and new research students alike. One of the key figures behind the establishment of ICARD is Professor Sam Martin, from the School of Zoology, who is one of the university’s leading fish health experts.
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He explains: “There’s been a lot of growth in aquaculture research in Scotland recently as the industry is rightly seen as having an increasingly important role in food security. “We are not merely jumping on that bandwagon, however – we have a long history of aquaculture research and already have a core of about 20 academics with interests in aquaculture research, plus PhDs and post-docs, and we’re particularly strong in areas such as fish nutrition, health and immunology, as well as having expertise in other relevant fields such as algae, population science, economics and engineering. Aberdeen is also the home of the Scottish Fish Immunology Centre, which will be closely tied to ICARD. “There’s a community of people at Aberdeen with valuable aquaculture experience and the formation of ICARD will both help us attract grant funding for
R&D
Dr Zeynab Heidari. Prof. Sam Martin.
aquaculture-related research and also demonstrate the extent of our ambitions.” As well as Sam, whose main area of expertise is in fish nutrition, the others behind the initiative are Professor Chris Secombes (an immunology expert) and Professor Pieter van West (the director of ICARD), who hail from the Medical Science department. Other key players in ICARD are Bankje de Roos, a human nutritionist, who will be able to look at how feeds effect the health benefits of salmon; Helen Dooley, who brings a wealth of immunology expertise to the table; and Alex Douglas, who specializes in bioinformatics and genomics. Aberdeen also has excellent research facilities, points out Sam, which were recently given a £1 million upgrade, and include an aquarium and both fresh- and
salt-water RAS systems, and he adds that many of those involved with ICARD have built up good working relationships with industry players over the years. “I’ve been working on projects with BioMar, Chris with Ewos, and we currently have a PhD working with Skretting. Dan Macqueen has been working with Xselect while Chris is also involved in vaccine and adjuvant design with several leading pharmaceutical companies,” he reflects. The university recently received more than £1 million from The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) – two of the UK’s leading research bodies – to carry out four research projects focusing on addressing the challenges facing the aquaculture sector and ICARD should help to strengthen their ability to attract further funding.
“What’s more,” Sam explains, “we’re planning on launching two new fullyfunded PhD studentships within the next 12 months – most likely in the areas of fish health and nutrition.” At a time when more and more research funding is being offered to the aquaculture industry by the likes of BBSRC, NERC, SAIC and the Scottish Funding Council, it is no surprise that the competition for the funds from Scottish higher education establishments is also heating up. Indeed, Aberdeen’s move has parallels with a number of other research and education initiatives that have been launched this year – SAMS took on the first cohort of Sustainable Aquaculture undergraduates in September; the Engineering Department at the University of Dundee took on four SAIC scholars this autumn; and the Dick Vet School aims to launch a global food security course (with aquaculture as a key component) in 2016. All in all it is clear that Scotland’s higher education establishments are putting increasing emphasis on their potential to help the aquaculture industry, both in Scotland and further afield, and it will be interesting to see what impact this research drive has on the industry in the next decade or so
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Dra. Ela Krol.
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New products
Cooke’s new cat Cooke Aquaculture’s second catamaran from the Faroese company KJ, which has now been deployed as a workboat to serve its 10 sites in the Orkney Isles, was delivered in November. Called Emerald, the 14x7m HydroCat is now able to service any of Cooke’s 10 sites in Orkney. Ólavur Asafsson Olsen, managing director and CEO of KJ, said: “From day one, our catamarans have been very popular in the Faroe fish farming industry. Now, we are building catamaran No 42. Most of our catamarans have been sold to fish farmers in the Faroe Islands. But the good reputation of the Faroe fish farmers – renowned for raising some of the best farmed salmon in the world and for their very high productivity – has inspired fish farmers from abroad to take a good look
at boats and other equipment used by the Faroese. This is to our benefit, of course – as the major supplier of boats and sea cages in Faroe.” Emerald follows hot on the heels of
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Sapphire, which was delivered to Cooke’s salmon farms in the Shetland Islands in June
Key specifications Length: 14m Breadth: 7m Draught: 1.98m Cargo: 30 tonnes Engines Motors: Iveco NEF 450 370 HK 2700 RPM Heavy Duty Reduction gear: PRM 1500 Bow thruster: HP 50. Deck equipment Capstan: 2 x KJ 30, 3 tonne, diameter 290 mm. Capstan: KJ 10, 1 tonne, diameter 180 mm. Winch: 10 tonne mounted on container locks aft of weelhouse or in PS acc. drawing. Hydraulic crane: Palfinger PK 32002, max hydraulic reach 13.7m, delivered with remote control.
Salmar’s
offshore schemes Salmar’s R&D subsidiary, Ocean Farming, has spent over half a billion “It is likely that the steel structure and Norwegian kroner (£38 million) developing a new design of netpen for composition will be made in China,” farming salmon in exposed locations. Nordhammer revealed. Therese Soltveit | therese@kyst.no
Leif Nordhammer, Salmar’s CEO, revealed that development permits for the idea were introduced by the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries on 20 November, giving the company the opportunity to progress with the project. “There is a limit to what detailed information about the project we can give. We will now initially submit an application for development licences 40
from the Ministry of Fisheries. We believe that our project fully meets the criteria for such concessions,” Nordhammer told kyst.no. He says that a final investment decision will not be made until they receive the results of the licensing process. If the idea receives government approval by the end of 2015, however, the new cages could be operational by the summer of 2017.
The CEO adds that his company has already devoted considerable resources to the design, development, testing and quality screening of the project – with the help of Global Maritime, Veritas and Marintek in Trondheim. “With regard to cost, we announced earlier that it is estimated to several million, but it is now clear that the total cost [in bringing the concept to fruition] will be over half a billion,” Nordhammer said
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New products
The world’s largest
closed containment system Marine Harvest aims to stock Aqua Farm’s sea-based closedcontainment Neptun 3 cage design within five months. Therese Soltveit | therese@kyst.no
At 25m deep and with a diameter of 43m, the system is the world’s largest closed-containment cage in the world and has been made to order for Marine Harvest. The system was put in the water in October and is now being rigorously tested while also being fitted out. “We plan to stock the system in May, if the tests go as planned, but we have to conduct many test runs first,” says Project manager Bjarte Sævereid, who is in charge of MH’s smolts in the south of Norway. “We are finished installing pumping stations, lift-up system and are now
connecting various pipes ready for electrician,” says Jan Erik Jensen, Marine Harvest’s Operations Manager. “We will test facility for wind and weather, while we will run a higher pressure inside the cages than there,” says Jensen, who adds that they are working on creating walkways and ladders on the cage. “Glass fibre on the footpaths on the previous test cage froze when it approached zero degrees, which made it slippery and difficult to move. Therefore, we have now installed and mounted a new type of walkway with steel frames, so
that we can walk around more easily.” “We have long worked with the process of putting in place a new cage, after the previous one had some faults, and we must be sure that everything is right before the fish are stocked,” adds Sævereid
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Size estimation
software evolves a daily overview of average weight, size distribution, condition and growth – and all this information is then accessible on biomassdaily.com
After a considerable time in development to its original software, Vaki introduced an updated and more powerful version of biomassdaily.com in late November. Biomass Daily gathers detailed information of the size of the salmon in each cage by measuring every fish that passes through a scanning frame – giving
The new version focuses on enhancing both performance and user experience – offering users access to clearly presented information regarding growth trends, size distribution, and weight by time. Users can navigate through all the reports interactively and adjust filters and limits in the user interface. The new site is a redesign of the basic biomass estimation reports and uses the same database, but is faster, more flexible
and more responsive – offering new features and graphs as well as reacting faster to changes. The news follows on from the announcement that the Icelandic company has also recently opened a daughter company in Scotland – in the wake of forming similar subsidiaries in Chile and Norway. The Scottish office is being headed by David Jarron, the company’s main consultant and salesman for many years in Iceland, who has now returned to his native country to take care of all day to day operations and commit to expert service and customer support
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Obituary
Tributes paid to Scottish stalwart
Tributes have been paid to Guy Mace, the former MD of BioMar and one of the pioneering figures in the Scottish aquaculture industry, who passed away peacefully in November at the age of 65. By Rob Fletcher | rob@fishfarmingexpert.com
A popular and well-respected figure in the industry, Guy served as MD of BioMar from 2000 until his retirement earlier this year, although his aquaculture career began back in the early 1970s. And it was only fitting that he was recognized with the Outstanding Contribution to Industry accolade at this year’s Crown Estate Scottish Marine Aquaculture Award ceremony. Roger Thwaites, who worked with Guy from 1973-1986, told Fish Farming Expert: “Guy will be greatly missed and had a huge influence on global aquaculture. In the mid-80s, when he had a pioneering finfish farm at Hunterston, he probably knew more about marine finfish than any other person alive – he looked at the production of at least 11 species – from salmon and trout, through to oysters, turbot and Dover sole. 42
“He was a great and inspirational leader who was able to put together a team and get them to work well for him. It was no surprise that there were almost 250 people at his funeral, many of whom were from the aquaculture industry. “We are all really saddened by Guy’s death, coming just four months after his 65th birthday and semi-retiral. He was a close friend, a good and decent person, and lots of fish farming folk owe him a debt of gratitude.” Paddy Campbell, who took over from Guy as MD of BioMar earlier in the year, added: “Although Guy had retired as MD he was still actively working for the company up until his death, always focused and up to speed on what was happening. His relentless energy, his great sense of humour and practical, calm approach
Obituary Guy Mace had a long and eventful aquaculture career which culminated with a 15 year shift at Biomar in Grangemouth
has very much been ingrained in the company’s philosophy. We all at BioMar had huge admiration and affection for Guy; he will be sadly missed by us all”. After completing a degree in zoology he started working on a recirculation trout project at Ardchattan, near Loch Awe, which he followed up with an MSc at the Unit of Aquatic Pathobiology – the forerunner of the Institute of Aquaculture – at Stirling University. He then joined Golden Sea Produce (GSP), which had been established by his father. At the time, in 1974, it was only GSP, Marine Harvest and Booker McConnell farming salmon in Scotland. In the winter of 1974 he hatched his first eggs from wild fish from the river Conon at Ardtaraig, in Argyll, where he produced smolts until 1978. He became MD of the company after his father’s death, in 1979, by which time they’d built up the business to include growing turbot and Dover sole at Hunterston power station, a shellfish business, a hatchery and a sea life centre, on Loch Creran. In 1979, he had his first major business setback, when a toxic algal bloom of Flagella x in Loch Striven killed over half his salmon. Interestingly, scientists from Porton Down heard about the bloom and the fact it was making divers feel ill and came to investigate the possibility of using this alga in biological warfare.
After this he relocated the company’s salmon operations from the Firth of Clyde to Loch Creran, Loch Spelve and Lochaline and built new hatcheries at Cairndow and Loch Keal on Mull. Around this time he was also investigating the future of GSP’s turbot farm at Hunterston A, but concluded it would be better off in Galicia, where the project received the backing of Norske Hydro and the Bank of Bilbao, and has since grown in to a highly successful business, Prodemar. Meanwhile GSP – which was sold to Norske Hydro in 1983 – began to focus on, and invest heavily in, salmon farming, growing around 10,000 tons of salmon per annum under the Hydro Seafood GSP name, becoming the second largest producer of salmon in the country after Marine Harvest. However, in 1998-9 the ISA crisis erupted in Scotland, the business was sold and rebranded as Scottish Sea Farms, at which point Guy joined BioMar. “Scottish aquaculture has,” he reflected in a previous interview, “provided a fantastic career and many unique experiences”. It was a sentiment that many in the industry would agree with and many would also thank Guy for encouraging them to follow in his footsteps. Indeed, speaking at the Crown Estate Awards last June, Scott Landsburgh, Chief
Executive of the SSPO, reflected: “Guy employed and mentored many people during his fish farming time and many of the leading figures in the Scottish, Irish and Norwegian fish farming industries today have been inspired by his passion and knowledge. Guy has built his knowledge and experience of aquaculture from the ground up to the boardroom, and has probably the widest experience of all elements of aquaculture of anyone in the UK”
.
“
In the mid-80s, when he had a pioneering finfish farm at Hunterston, he probably knew more about marine finfish than any other person alive
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