Fish Farmer September 2021

Fish F armer AQUA NOR SEPTEMBER 2021

The trade show returns in style

GREEN-ISH? The new deal at Holyrood

BOATS

Sector review

NET BENEFITS Containment solutions

Bright futures Great careers in aquaculture

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Welcome

Editor’s Editor’s Welcome Welcome

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ierra del Fuego, the southernmost province of Argen�na, has a good claim to the �tle “The ofmonths the world.” �er end many when it seemed that it might never happen, Aqua Nor – one of Earlier this month the trade regional legislature of the province voted toThe banbuzz openaround net the industry’s biggest shows – returned, live and in-person. salmon farming.

Coming on top of the Danish government’s decision last autumn to it was palpable, even for those of us who could only experience it remotely. curtail any further growth fish farming at sea, andfrom the Aqua ongoing of the in In this issue weof report on the highlights Norstruggle 2021, from theindustry deals done Canada to resist the closure of farms in the of Discovery Islands, than ever that the to industry debates.

Hopefully the success this year’s eventitasisaclearer “hybrid”, including online fipresenta� sh farming industry needs to make its case in order just to stay in business. ons and virtual networking, will provide a template for future Aqua Nor events and It’sother not all gloom, however. At the North Atlan�c Seafood Forum – held online this year for trade shows.

– We Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg reiterated her belief that Society’s investment in the blue also look forward in this issue to the European Aquaculture Aquaculture economy is a route to saving the environment, not harming it.

Also at the NASF, chief Europe event, taking place in Madeira this October, including profiles and insights from three execu� ves and analysts alike were in agreement that the industry’s biggest challenge is of the keynote speakers. finding ways to meet the world’s growing demand for their product – arguably, that’s a good The September issue of Fish Farmer features a look back at a busy six months for Boats and problem to have.

Barges, and also at the latest developments in Cages, Pens, Nets and Moorings.

In thisHolmyard issue we report also present partUS of –a which preview Aqua Nor Nicki reportson onthe ini�NASF a�vesand around the UK –the andfirst in the areofmaking 2021, one of the biggest great progress in industry’s the restora� on oftrade na�veshows. oyster species.

What’s happening in aq The issue Macdonell also features profilen of currently the front the race to Also,July Hamish anda Mar� JaffNorcod, a consider the implica� onsrunner for theinaquaculture in the UK and around th revive cod farming industry.

Findpact out why Norcod’s Execu� ve, Chris� anstability Riber, What’s happening in aquacu sector the in Scotland of the SNP-Green concluded lastChief month.

Providing some believes thisminority �me they have a model thatallowing works. room for the two par�es to differ on w in the UK and around the wo for the SNP government while We also focus on two aquaculture projects in Guatemala and The Bahamas that are being JENNY HJUL – EDITOR JENNY HJUL – EDITOR certain issues, the deal between the par�es sets up scope for co-opera�on and conflict. supported

by Norway’s Arc� c, and on the “Øymerd” project which is se�sustainable ng out to For aquaculture in par�Kvarøy cular, the SNP commi� ed to encouraging JENNY HJUL –– EDITOR JENNYhas HJULpreviously EDITOR create a fi sh farm based on a fl oa� ng concrete island. growth in fish farming while the Sco�sh Greens have said they would end net-pen farming at Steve Bracken SSC’s record results Stewart Graham The final sessions Nicki Holmyard looks attothe sh farmers’ le against tubeworm and marine sites, preferring seeshellfi fish farming takeba� place in land-based facili� es this (if atissue all). also features industry reportsaon Breeding andon Gene� cs, Transport and Logis� cs and Steve Bracken SSC’s record results Stewart Graham The final sessions Finally, special this issue also includes special feature Careers insector Aquaculture.

Despite the salmon farming in Scotland, when it was to he focus this month istopictures on Europe, the internati T HE is coincidence that andwhere videos of unhealthy Sno Fish Farmer went press, there was sti lltold no offi cialonal Li� ing and Cranes. challenges, this is a sector that con�nues to off er a bright future. be thewere subject ofScotti a be parliamentary inquiry, embraced the industry willsent soon gathering the (European salmon to news outletsfor just asjoint the Scotti sh news from the shScotland, parliamentary inquiry into salmon farming sector in when itEAS was tosalmon he focus this month istopictures on Europe, the internati T HE is coincidence that andwhere videos of unhealthy Sno Fish Farmer went press, there was sti lltold no offi cialonal opportunity this would provide to explain how it month. operated.

Aquaculture Society) and WAS (World Aquaculture Society) parliament went back to work at the start of this These farming, conducted earlier this year by the Rural Economy Best wishes, be thewere subject ofScotti a be parliamentary inquiry, embraced industry willsent soon gathering the EASinto (European salmon to news outletsfor just asjoint the Scotti shthe news from the sh parliamentary inquiry salmon Best wishes, Current trends In good Julie Hesketh-Laird The industry had nothing to hide and, if given aof fair hearing, could Meet thehealth new chief exe conference, to be staged over fi ve days in the southern French images had litt le to do with the current state Scotland’s fi sh and Connecti vity (REC) committ ee.

MSPs have now held fi ve Robert Outram opportunity this would provide explain how it month. operated.

Aquaculture Society) and WAS (World Aquaculture Society) parliament back to work atto the start of this These farming, went conducted earlier this year by the Rural Economy Robert Outram address much of the criti cism levelled against it. city ofngs, Asto well asand, highlighti ng the latest technological farms -Montpellier. where sea lice are in decline and, inwe fact, at abe five- Meet meeti in nothing private, tolevels consider their report and must Current trends In good Julie Hesketh-Laird The had hide if given fair hearing, thehealth new chief executiv conference, to beto staged over days in theaof southern images had litt le do with thefive current state Scotland’s ficould sh and industry Connecti vity (REC) committ ee.

MSPs have now heldFrench five Fish Farmer supported this but at times salmon advances in our fast moving sector, Aqua 2018felt willthat alsohas feature year low (htt p://scotti shsalmon.co.uk/monthly-sea-lice-reports). pati ent.

However, waiti ng forview, their recommendati ons been address much of the criti cism levelled against it. city ofngs, Astolevels well asare highlighti ng the latest technological farms -Montpellier. where sea lice in decline and, inwe fact, at abe fivemeeti in private, consider their report and must farmers were being drowned out bywhich theREC noisier elements offarming the sessions on emerging markets and look atinvolves the role ofthe fishusual This latest propaganda campaign, all made harder by leaks from within to anti -salmon Fish Farmer supported this atthe times salmon advances in our fast moving sector, Aqua 2018felt willthat alsohas feature year low (htt p://scotti shsalmon.co.uk/monthly-sea-lice-reports). pati ent.

However, waiti ng forview, theirbut recommendati ons been angling lobby, which had called foras the investi gatiRural on.

But asngs the farming in alleviati ng poverty.

Increasingly, industry meeti anti -aquaculture suspects, came Holyrood’s Economy acti vists.

The latest of these (see our news story on page 4) farmers were being drowned out bywhich theREC noisier elements offarming the sessions onpropaganda emerging markets and look atinvolves the role fishusual This campaign, allofthe madelatest harder by leaks from within the to anti -salmon sessions progressed, and eventually farmers’ voices were heard, are broadening their scope, tackling subjects such asthat thethe social and Connecti vity committ ee returned the summer recess we to makes grim reading for the industry asfrom itgati suggests committ ee angling lobby, which had called for the investi on.

But as farming inThe alleviati ngofpoverty.

Increasingly, ngs anti -aquaculture suspects, as Economy activists. latest thesecame (see ourHolyrood’s newsindustry storyRural onmeeti page 4) became more opti misti c.into Weand now believe that MSPs, perhaps with acceptability of aquaculture the contributi on it makes to global consider its draft report the future of salmon farming. members have been willing to listen to those campaigning to sessions progressed, and eventually farmers’ voices were heard, are broadening their scope, tackling subjects such asthat the committ social and Connecti vity committ ee returned the summer recess we to makes grim reading for the industry asfrom it suggests ee Serving Worldwide Aquaculture Since 1977 food security and saving the planet, aindustry move that is toanti welcomed. the excepti on ofvaluable one or two Greens cahoots with -farming Those who want toWe shut down thein asbe shut down this sector, rather than to those who operate became more misti c. now believe that MSPs, perhaps with acceptability ofopti aquaculture and the contributi on ithave, makes toexpected, global consider its draft report into the future of salmon farming. members have been willing to listen to those campaigning to Also investi gati ngacti initi aties, veswhich inregard thenow developing world, Harrison campaigners, will, on balance, the industry in a Dr favourable stepped their viti involve the within it.up food security and saving the planet, aindustry move that is tobreaching welcomed. the excepti on ofvaluable one or two Greens cahoots with anti -farming Those who want to shut down thein asbe expected, shut down this sector, rather thanthe tohave, those who operate Meet the team Charo Karisa of WorldFish writes about farming potenti al inthe Fish Farmer: Volume 44 Number 07 Volume 44 Number 09 light.

They will hopefully see that farmers take their environmental biosecure environments of farm sites to snatch photographs in Of course, such stories may be inaccurate and, in any case, Also investi gati ngacti initi aties, veswhich inregard thenow developing world, Harrison campaigners, will, on balance, the industry in a Dr favourable stepped viti involve breaching the within it.up their Editorial Board: Nigeria, both in catf ish and ti lapia culti vati on.

Editorial Advisory Advisory Board: responsibiliti es seriously and that businesses will only ever invest in the hope of fi nding incriminati ng evidence against farmers.

One committ ee’s fi ndings are not binding.

Scotland’s fi sh farmers Contact us Charo Karisa of WorldFish writes about the farming potenti al in light.

They will hopefully see that farmers take their environmental biosecure environments of farm sites tosomething snatch photographs ingame Of course, such stories may be inaccurate and, inof any case,ngthe Steve In Scotland, the summer has been a waiti Steve Bracken, Bracken, Hervé Hervé Migaud, Migaud, Jim Jim Treasurer, Treasurer, What’s in a name?

Dr Nick Lake Phil Thomas growth that is sustainable.

Tel: +44(0) 131 551 1000 Tel: +44(0) 131 551 1000 campaigner fibeen lmed himself searching, unsuccessfully, for minister, dead haveboth always fortunate to have the support of their Nigeria, catf ish and tilapia culti vati on. responsibiliti seriously and will only ever invest the hope of fies nding incriminati ng businesses evidence against farmers.

Onein committ ee’s fiin ndings are not binding.

Scotland’s fish farmers Chris while the parliament is inthat recess and thethose members of Holyrood’s Chris Mitchell, Mitchell, Jason Jason Cleaversmith Cleaversmith Fax: +44(0) 131 551 7901 Fax: +44(0) 131 551 7901 If the committ ee members, especially who have yet to fi shthat at aEwing, Marine site. Another saidofhea saw ‘hundreds’ Fergus toHarvest growhas sustainably.

In Scotland, the summer something ngminister, game of Phil What’s in a name?

Dr Nick Lake Thomas growth isfibeen sustainable. campaigner lmed himself searching, unsuccessfully, for dead have always fortunate tobeen have the support ofwaiti their and Rural Economy and Connecti vity committ ee conti nue to weigh up and Hamish Hamish Macdonell Macdonell Email: shfarmermagazine.com Email: editor@fi shfarmermagazine.com visit aparliament farm, like tothe learn more about the of infested salmon in awould pen, but we only have his word against that But itsalmon should not go unchallenged that some MSPs onsubject the REC while the isroutram@fi in recess and members of Holyrood’s If the committ ee members, especially those who have yet to fi sh at Marine site.

Another said hefarming. saw ‘hundreds’ Fergus toHarvest grow sustainably. theaEwing, evidence in their inquiry into salmon We don’tof expect Editor: Outram Editor: Robert RobertRural Outram their we have plenty of good stories in our May Even and Connecti vity committ ee conti nue weigh up Head Offi ce: Special Publica� ons, Fe� es Park, of theinquiry, professional vets and biologists who manage theissue. welfare of committ ee, with their own against the growth of Head Offi ce: Special Publica� ons, Fe� esto Park, visit a Economy farm, like toagendas learn more about the subject ofthetime infested salmon in go awould but we only have his word against that Buttheir itsalmon should not unchallenged that some MSPs on the REC report unti l pen, the autumn but hope the MSPs are using the bett er,farms they could head to Highlands later this month, where 496 Ferry Road, Edinburgh, EH5 2DL 496 Ferry Road, Edinburgh, EH5 2DLWe the evidence in their inquiry into salmon farming. don’t expect Designer: Balahura Designer: Andrew Andrewtheir Balahura these on a daily basis. industry, are in breach of the Code of Conduct for MSPs. As they wefully have plenty of good stories in ourgrowth May toinquiry, become acquainted with the facts about fithe shissue. farming. of the professional vets andagendas biologists who manage welfare of committ ee, with their own against the of theEven Doug McLeod Montpellier report Dr Marti n Jaff a meet the aquaculture industry en masse at Scotland’s theirthey report unti l the autumn but hope the MSPs areas using theittiis, meit Ifthey the is proud of its high standards, itsalmon says are inwill aindustry positi on to inflthe uence the future course of farming, Commercial Commercial Manager: Manager: bett er, could head to Highlands later this month, where This month also sees reti rement of Marine Harvest’s longest these farms on a daily basis. industry, are in breach of the Code of Conduct for MSPs. As they Subscriptions to become fully with the facts aboutof fish farming. biggest fish acquainted farming show. must mount aaquaculture much more robust defence itself, through its and of businesses vital toBracken.

Scotland’s economy, we have a right Janice Janice Johnston Johnston Montpellier report Dr Marti n Jaff a Doug McLeod they will meet the industry en masse at Scotland’s serving employee, Steve We had no Subscrip� ons Fish Farmer Subscrip� ons Address: Fish Farmer If the isto proud of itsAddress: high standards, as itsalmon says itcollecti is, it ng are in aindustry positi on inflthe uence the future course oftrouble farming, This month also sees reti rement of Marine Harvest’s longest We will certainly be at Aquaculture UK in Aviemore and look jjohnston@fi jjohnston@fishfarmermagazine.com shfarmermagazine.com representati ve body, the SSPO, than it has done to date.

The to know who they are, and we hope the industry, through its warm from his friendsdefence and colleagues tohave mark the biggest fishtributes farming show.

Magazine Subscrip� ons, Warners Group Magazine Subscrip� ons, Warners Group must mount a much more robust of itself, through its and of businesses vital to Scotland’s economy, we a right serving employee, Steve Bracken.

We had nonothing, trouble collecti ng forward toand, seeing many of you there too. campaigners, we now see, will stop at representati ves, will pressure the parliament toand investi gate before Publisher: Benne� Publisher: Alister Alisterrepresentati Benne� milestone along with rest of the industry, thefarmers team We will certainly be at Aquaculture UK in Aviemore and look Publica� ons plc, The Mal� ngs, Publica� ons plc, The Mal� ngs, vethey body, the SSPO, than itthe has done tothrough date.

The to know who are, and wethe hope industry, its at Fish warm tributes from his friends and colleagues to mark the should be prepared to fi ght back. the REC report is published.

Farmer wish him all the very best for the future.

West Street, Bourne West Street, Bourne forward toand, seeing many of the you there too. campaigners, we now see, will stop at representati ves, will pressure the parliament toand investi gateatbefore Rising stars Marti nBrown Jaff a Orkney anniversary Janet milestone along with rest of thenothing, industry, thefarmers team Fish Lincolnshire Lincolnshire PE10 9PH should prepared to fivery ghtPE10 back. the RECbe report published.

Farmer wish himis all the best9PH for the future.

Conte Conten 4-15 4-14 News 4-15 4-14 News

Fair hearing French connection Farmers must fight back Uphold the code Fair hearing French connection Farmers must Uphold the codefight back

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@fishfarmermagazine

Tel: Tel: +44 +44 (0)1778 (0)1778 392014 392014

ons: UK Subscrip� ons: £75 £75 aa year year www.fishfarmer-magazine.com nowSubscrip� on @fishfarmermag Fish Farmer isUK ROW aa year ROW Subscrip� Subscrip�ons: ons: £95 £95www.fishupdate.com year including including Facebook and Twitter Fish Farmer is now postage on www.fishfarmermagazine.com -- All postage All Air Air Mail Mailwww.fishfarmer-magazine.com www.fishupdate.com Facebook andthe Twitter Contact us Meet team

Meet thebybyteam Printed JJ Thomson Printed in in Great Great Britain Britain for for the the proprietors proprietors Wyvex Wyvex Media Media Ltd Ltd Thomson Colour Colour Printers Printers Ltd, Ltd, Glasgow Glasgow ISSN ISSN 0262-9615 0262-9615 Editorial Advisory Board: Steve Tel: +44(0) 131 551 1000 Contact us Meet the team

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Janet Machrihanish Orkney farm Marti nBrown Jaff a visit

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3 Fax: +44(0) 131 551 7901 Bracken, Scott Landsburgh, Hervé Steve Bracken, Scott HervéLandsburgh, Migaud, Editorial Advisory Board: Steve Tel: +44(0) 131 551 1000 Migaud, PatrickJim Smith and Jim Hervé Patrick Smith, PatrickMigaud, Smith, Treasurer and Fax: email: +44(0) 131 551 7901 Bracken, Scott Landsburgh, Hervé Steve Bracken, Scott HervéLandsburgh, Migaud, jhjul@fi shupdate.com Treasurer, Wiliam Jim Treasurer and Dowds William Dowdsemail: William Dowds Marti nofJaff a era Vaccines New player Dawn new Migaud, PatrickJim Smith and Jim Hervé Patrick Smith, PatrickMigaud, Smith, Treasurer and Editor: Jenny Hjul jhjul@fi shupdate.com Treasurer, Wiliam 12/07/2021 15:32:14 Jim Treasurer and Dowds William Dowds William Dowds Head Office: Special Publications, Dawn 13/09/2021 17:56:26 Marti nofJaff a era Vaccines New player new Designer: Andrew Balahura

Contents

Fish F armer In the September issue...

News

What’s happening in the UK and around the world

Processing News

28-29

Update from the processing sector

SSPO

30-31

Hamish Macdonell

Comment

32-33

Mar�n Jaffa

Shellfish

34-35

Nicki Holmyard

USA

36-37

Vince McDonagh

Feed

38-39

Vince McDonagh

Aquaculture Europe 2021

40-42

Looking ahead to Madeira

Careers in Aquaculture

44-51

Opportuni�es in the sector

Aqua Nor 2021

52-57

Repor�ng on a special week in Trondheim

Cages, Pens, Nets & Moorings

58-60

Deals and developments in containment

Boats & Barges

62-67

Launches, commissions and new models

What’s New

Monthly update on industry innova�ons and solu�ons

Industry Diary

All the latest aquaculture events, conferences and courses

Aqua Source Directory Opinion

70

74

Nick Joy

36

Contents-final.indd 4

68

72-73

Find all you need for the industry

4

6-27

52

62

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:33:18

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13/09/2021 11:09:50 11/05/2021 10:07

United Kingdom News

NEWS...

SNP-Green deal includes no-go sea zones for farming

Above: Patrick Harvie, Below: Tavish Scott

THE power-sharing deal agreed between Scotland’s SNP Government and the Scottish Greens includes a commitment to ban all fisheries and aquaculture from at least 10% of Scottish waters.

The deal, which follows weeks of negotiations between the two parties, falls short of a full coalition, although two Green MSPs have been given junior ministerial posts. The parties have agreed to differ on a range of issues from aviation and international relations to independent schools and the regulation of sex work. In other areas, the Greens will support the SNP, including on a call for a second referendum on Scottish independence within five years.

A shared policy platform has been hammered out, which has been published as Working Together to Build a Greener, Fairer, Independent Scotland – otherwise known as the Bute House Agreement.

The agreement specifically addresses aquaculture and pledges:  An independent review to consider the effectiveness and efficiency of the current regulatory regime for fish farming – this had previously been announced by the Scottish Government;

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UK-news-final.indd 6

 A vision and strategy for sustainable aquaculture “that places an enhanced emphasis on environmental protection and community benefits”;  An immediate programme of work to better protect wildlife and the environment, including a response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group in September 2021, consultation on a “spatially adaptive” sea lice risk assessment framework for fish farms by the end of the year, and strengthened controls on sea lice, wrasse and fish escapes in the course of 2021/22; and  A commitment to ensure “that fish farming contributes more to support communities and recreational fisheries, to promote innovation and to support services such as fish health and welfare inspections and monitoring”.

In addition, the agreement commits to a “step change” in marine protection, including the introduction of a new category of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), for inshore and offshore locations, which will cover at least 10% of Scottish waters.

Within the HPMAs there will be no permitted aquaculture or fisheries of any kind, or infrastructure developments, but limited

tourism and recreational activities would be allowed.

A recommendation that HPMAs should be introduced for English waters was set out in the Benyon Review, commissioned for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and published in 2019.

The document also states: “The Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party believe that Scotland should have a sustainable, diverse, competitive and economically viable aquaculture industry. It must operate within environmental limits and with social licence, and ensure there is a thriving marine ecosystem for future generations.”

The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) has cautiously welcomed the joint policy programme published as part of the SNP/ Scottish Greens power-sharing agreement.

The SSPO says the programme is “a constructive starting point”.

Tavish Scott, Chief Executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, said: “Scotland’s salmon farming sector has always recognised the need for a good working relationship with SNP Government ministers who, in turn, have acknowledged the important role we play not only in island and rural communities, but right across Scotland.

“We hope the strong and supportive partnership we have with government will continue during this parliamentary session, whatever the makeup of the ministerial team.”

Above: Nicola Sturgeon

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:07:39

All the latest industry news from the UK

Mowi promises “good mood food” in TV ad campaign MOWI is promoting its brand in the UK with a nationwide TV advertising campaign and a tie-up with Great British Bake Off star Kimberley Wilson.

The company’s TV blitz includes spots across many satellite channels as well as ITV and Channel 4. Mowi anticipates that more than 65% of adults in the UK will have seen a Mowi advert over the period of the campaign.

The initiative is also being supported with a refreshed digital advertising campaign launching on Instagram, Facebook and, for the first time, Pinterest.The aim is to drive over 9,000 clicks a week to www.sainsburys.co.uk.

Speaking about the investment, Head of Sales James Cowan, said:“Our commitment to growing the salmon category continues as we inspire consumers to eat salmon and recognise the quality and freshness of Mowi. Many thanks to all our colleagues who deliver consistently high-quality products in these challenging times.We have learned that over half of Mowi sales have been incremental to our partner Sainsbury’s and we continue to provide bespoke support to it during the TV campaign.”

Meanwhile, former Bake Off finalist Kimberley Wilson has partnered with Mowi, creating delicious, nutritious recipes as part of the Good Mood Food campaign.A chartered psychologist with a degree in nutrition,Wilson has developed recipes specifically aimed at creating a positive mood.

Above: Kimberley Wilson Left: Mowi new packaging

Marine fund grant for fishers and processors store and freezer.

Gougeon said: “Our producers, farmers and fishermen showed tremendous spirit as they navigated the pandemic and now face the stark realities of a new operating landscape brought about by a reckless Brexit deal.

“Daily, we hear of new and emerging challenges: shortages of HGV drivers and workers in processing and manufacturing, as well as associated skills shortages across the industry.”

She said that labour and skills shortages typified the Above: Mairi Gougeon visits Mowi. Below: David Duguid hard Brexit that had been FISHING businesses and marine organimposed on Scotland. isations in Scotland have been awarded Meanwhile, the UK Government-led funding to mitigate the impacts of Scottish Seafood Industry Action Group Brexit, help the sector recover from convened for the first time this month effects of Covid-19 and protect the in an online meeting chaired by UK environment.

Government Minister for Scotland The financial support of almost David Duguid. £800,000 – part of the £14m Marine The Action Group is a Fund Scotland - was announced by Rusuccessor to the Scottish ral Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon in Seafood Exports Task a food and drink debate in the Scottish Force, which wound up Parliament. earlier in the year after Recipients in the latest round of producing a report awards include the Independent outlining problems for Fishers Science Support Scheme the sector and priorities (nearly £360,000) to support onboard for action. Some actions observers on fishing vessels, £280,000 have been carried out but to Seafish for fisher training and the others, such as setting up a Solway Marine Litter project (£41,060). fully digital system for environFish processor and supplier Downies of mental health certificates (EHCs) are Whitehills, based in Aberdeenshire, is to still works in progress. receive around £206,000 towards a new The SNP had criticised the decision

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UK-news-final.indd 7

to end the Task Force, but Duguid said the Action Group would continue to address the issues identified.

Duguid said, following the Group’s first meeting: “There was good news on progress on digitisation of paperwork for exporters and we are raising concerns with the EU about plans that would mean each animal for live export would have to be counted, possibly adding unnecessary stress for shellfish such as crabs and lobsters.

“A priority for the industry is the issue of labour shortages and this is something we are in the process of considering.”

In August, the seafood trade body Seafish announced that new health certification rules, which would have applied to seafood exporters in Great Britain exporting to the European Union would not come into effect until 15 January 2022.They had been planned to take effect from 21 August, but the industry asked for more time to prepare for the change.

As well as requiring more detailed information to accompany seafood consignments bound for the EU, EHCs will from 15 January have to be signed off by an official veterinarian. At present, environmental health officers are authorised to sign EHCs. One easing of the rules will be that clinical inspections of listed and vector species can take place up to 72 hours before loading, rather than being limited to 24 hours ahead.

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13/09/2021 18:08:07

United Kingdom News

Seafood funding rounds open for bids SEAFOOD and fisheries businesses in England are being invited to apply for project funding from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

The MMO, an arm of the UK Government, has opened four timelimited funding rounds to support:  Businesses trading in live bivalve molluscs (LBMs);  Projects aimed at protecting the marine environment;

 Projects delivering “world class” science and technological achievements; and  Projects supporting or enhancing the recreational sea fishing sector.

The closing date for submissions for all four rounds is 6 October 2021.

The funding for businesses in the LBM sector aims to support financial resilience and viability; help businesses adapt to post-Brexit trading conditions; and encourage investment in infrastructure, such as depuration facilities, that facilitates domestic sales and exports.

This funding round will have an individual grant cap of £150,000 per project.

Go online to www.gov.uk/guidance/ fisheries-and-seafood-scheme#FaSS for more information on these funding rounds, eligibility criteria and details on how to apply.

SSPO donates over £70,000 to wild salmon conservation projects

SSC brings in Nofitech for hatchery project RECIRCULATING aquaculture system (RAS) technology company Nofitech has won a contract with The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) to help redevelop SSC’s hatchery at its Applecross site in Wester Ross.

The agreement is part of a £49m investment to create a state-of-the-art RAS unit at the Applecross site.

RAS technology, SSC said, would allow fish to be reared for longer in freshwater tanks before being moved to marine sites. Greater control of the freshwater rearing environment means that farmers can produce larger smolt, shortening the marine production element of the cycle and so reducing the biological risk of rearing in the sea.

Ian Laister, Managing Director of The Scottish Salmon Company, said: “This contract marks the first important milestone in our commitment to incorporate RAS technology across all our freshwater production, which is fundamental to our growth strategy. Nofitech’s experience in this field will ensure that SSC is at the leading edge of RAS technology not only at Applecross, but at future freshwater facilities.”

The programme to redevelop the existing hatchery at Applecross is intended to be the first of three large hatcheries in Scotland, with sites for the other two still to be determined. It is part of a commitment by SSC’s parent company, Bakkafrost, to invest more than £40m a year in Scotland “across the value chain” over the next five years.

In November last year, Nofitech was appointed as the RAS contractor for Bakkafrost’s Glyvradal smolt hatchery on the Faroe Islands.

THE Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) has provided conservation bodies with funding of more than £70,000 to help ensure the future of wild salmon.

The awards were made through the Wild Salmonid Support Fund, which is financed by the leading fish farming companies and managed by independent grant-making charity Foundation Scotland.

The fund, launched this April, aims ultimately to invest around £1.5m to support wild salmon and sea trout stocks in Scotland.The five organisations receiving funding in this round are:  Argyll Fisheries Trust, which received £18,600 to invest in habitat restoration for sea trout in the Dalvuie Burn near Oban;  The Flow Country Rovers Trust, in the Highlands, which will use its £10,070 grant to help fund research into macroinvertebrates in 10 rivers, contributing to a picture of the health of stream habitats and the effects of global warming;  In the Outer Hebrides, Urras Oighreachd Chàrlabhaigh (Carloway Estate Trust) received a grant of £9,251 to undertake a project that will aim to improve salmon spawning grounds on the Carloway river, including the replenishment of gravel beds;  Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; and  Lochaber Fisheries Trust.

Tavish Scott, CEO of the SSPO, said: “Investing in good science and nature restoration projects on Scotland’s rivers is extremely important.

“We look forward to seeing the results of these excellent projects that are funded by the sector, and those that will be delivered in future under this fund, to benefit Scotland’s iconic wild salmon and sea trout.”

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www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:09:53

All the latest industry news from the UK

Cooke’s Bay of Holland site gets organic certification COOKE Aquaculture Scotland’s Bay of Holland farm site in Orkney has been certified as organic by the Soil Association.

The Bay of Holland seawater site, Stronsay, was constructed in early 2021 and stocked with Soil Association organic-certified smolts that currently average 550g.A new, purpose-built 200-tonne feed barge was commissioned from Gael Force to support the site.

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland is the largest producer of organic Orkney salmon and the latest certification brings the number of Cooke’s Soil Association organic certified seawater sites in Orkney up to 10.

In order to gain the Soil Association seal of approval, a farm site must meet the Association’s requirements, particularly as regards feed, stocking density, permitted treatments and fish welfare.

Cooke’s organic salmon are marketed as “Orkney organic” and sold by some of the leading retailers including Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and Tesco.

Norman Peace, Bay of Holland Site Manager at Cooke Aquaculture Scotland, said:“It is fitting to mark the start of Organic September by confirming our newest seawater site has achieved Soil Association certification.

AquaGen hires Butler for hatchery role

Above: Steven Butler

AqUACULTUrE breeding and genetics specialist AquaGen Scotland has appointed Steven Butler as Development Manager for its Holywood Hatchery near Dumfries.

Butler, from Errol near Perth, comes to AquaGen with a strong background in aquaculture engineering project and hatchery management, having worked for several of the major salmon producers over the past 30 years.

He has consulted for AquaGen over the past 12 months, helping to make improvements to the hatchery, which AquaGen – which is headquartered in Norway – purchased in 2019.

Butler said: “It is a great opportunity for me to bring my experience to a company that plays such an important role in the Scottish aquaculture value-chain.”

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Above: Site Manager Norman Peace

“We’ve been raising organic Scottish salmon consistently for more than a decade and this latest certification for Bay of Holland demonstrates our commitment to meeting the Soil Association’s highest standards and producing a premium product that is enjoyed throughout the world.”

Scottish Sea Farms staff set to clean up SCOTTISH Sea Farms is scaling up its involvement in the Great British Beach Clean, mobilising employees and their friends, families and local communities to tackle rubbish washed up or left by beach users.

The event, taking place from 17 to 26 September, is organised UK-wide by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and covers hundreds of beaches. Scottish Sea Farms is asking its staff – around 480 on Scotland’s west coast, Orkney and Shetland – to take part by helping to collect rubbish from a registered beach local to them.

This is the fourth year SSF has participated in the Beach Clean. Last

year, because of Covid-19 restrictions the company was represented only by employees in “work bubbles”, but this year family members, friends and neighbours are also being invited to take part.

Each team of volunteers will be focusing on a 100-metre stretch of beach, removing litter and rubbish washed up on shore, and recording what they find to help MCS record the scale and source of the problem.

Ten Scottish Sea Farms Beach Clean co-ordinators have volunteered to oversee efforts in their communities: from Barcaldine, Eriboll, Kishorn, Mallaig, Mull, Oban, South Shian and the Summer

Isles on the Scottish mainland to the Orkney and Shetland islands. Each coordinator is responsible for registering their local Beach Cleans, completing a survey of the litter collected and submitting the data to the MCS national database.They will also deliver safety briefings on the day and issue protective gloves and bags, as well as packed lunches, to all those involved.

Scottish Sea Farms Managing Director Jim Gallagher said: “The more of us who get involved, the greater the difference we can make, so we’re delighted to be able to welcome back family, friends and members of our local communities.”

Above: Scottish Sea Farms – GBBC 2019, Echna Loch BayTop: Stexx

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13/09/2021 18:10:22

United Kingdom News

Aquaculture Innovation Summit focuses on aquaculture, technology and finance

Research aims to improve wrasse vaccination

chance for emerging businesses to get their ideas in front of those with the finance and resources to help make them happen.

Presentations from industry leaders will also be available ahead of the summit itself, for those who register.

Other speakers at the event include Bryton Shang, CEO and Founder, Aquabyte, a Silicon Valley and Norway-based venture-backed company applying machine learning and computer vision to fish farming; Larsen Mettler, Managing Director with S2G Ventures, a multi-stage venture fund investing in food and agriculture; Sophie Ryan, CEO, Global Salmon Initiative, a leadership group representing more than 40% of the global farmed salmon industry and focusing on sustainability; Gerard Chia, Partner VisVires New Protein; and Jennifer Above: Ballan wrasse Kuo, Chief Technology Development and Sustainability Officer with interna- A team of UK researchers has received fundtional feed group Grobest. ing to find better ways to vaccinate ballan The Aquaculture Innovation Summit wrasse against bacterial infection.

It is hoped the project could help to grow is organised by Kisaco Research and the use of wrasse as cleaner fish to control PHARMAQ is Digital Innovation Partner for the event. Fish Farmer magazine sea lice.

The consortium – led by the University is a media sponsor. of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture and Attendance at the two-day event, the salmon producer Mowi, with support including networking facilities, costs from Otter Ferry Seafish, Ceva Ridgeway £799 (start-ups/emerging companies Biologicals and the Sustainable Aquaculture and VC/angel investors) or £1,299 Innovation Centre – will explore the range (others). For more information or to of factors that determine the best possible register, go online to www.aquaculconditions for delivering vaccinations against tureinnovationsummit.com Aeromonas salmonicida, a bacterium that can cause potentially fatal outbreaks of disease in 4TH ANNUAL cleaner fish.

Ballan wrasse currently receive vaccinations Book before against multiple healthAttendees conditions at the 6th August hatchery stage. However, the group will look to save with at alternative formulations of the vaccine, Virtual Event + On-Demand Content discounted 28-29 September 2021 • CET which could offer greater protection against rates disease.

Building a sustainable and profitable aquaculture industry through The team will also consider the best timing investment and partnerships Speakers and method of delivering the vaccine – ideally through immersion which can be easier to HEAR FROM 30+ KEY INDUSTRY LEADERS, INCLUDING: administer than injections – and assess and Dr Mark Powell Amy Novogratz Bryton Shang Larsen Mettler CEO and General Co-Founder and CEO and Founder Managing Director compare the way ballan wrasse react to each Manager Managing Partner Aquabyte S2G Ventures Marineholmen Aqua-Spark variable.

RASLab AS Hours of Dr Sean Monaghan from the Institute of networking Gerard Chia Sophie Ryan Nils Arne Grønlie Jennifer Kuo Aquaculture at the University of Stirling said: Partner CEO General Manager Chief Technology Development VisVires New Global Salmon PHARMAQ and Sustainability Officer “Enhancing vaccines for Aeromonas salmoniciProtein Initiative Grobest Group Limited da could represent a significant step forward my opinion, one in the use of ‘In ballan wrassethis in isaquaculture. of the best Aquaculture COVERING HEALTH, NUTRITION AND FARM MANAGEMENT ACROSS 4 KEY SPECIES AREAS: We know thatinnovation prevention is better than conferences in the cure and we are, therefore, working towards world’ Salmon Tilapia Sea Bass Shrimp CARSTEN CEO, HATCH the development ofKROME, more effective vaccine formulations and protocols that can be used by hatcheries and producers to improve fish Produced by: www.aquacultureinnovationsummit.com • +44 (0) 203at 696 2920 • events@kisacoresearch.com Above: Some of the key speakers the 2021 Aquaculture Innovation Associate SummitDigital Innovation Partner: welfare.”

EXPERTS and industry leaders will be sharing their insights at the Aquaculture Innovation Summit, which is being held as an online event on 28 and 29 September.

The summit, the fourth in an annual series, focuses on the technology, innovation and investment that is transforming the global aquaculture sector.

Speakers include Dr Mark Powell, CEO and General Manager, Marineholmen RASLab AS, a Norwegian contract research and innovation company with a primary focus on recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology and land-based aquaculture production; Amy Novogratz, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Aqua-Spark, the international fund specialising in sustainable aquaculture investment; and Nils Arne Grønlie, General Manager of PHARMAQ, which uses advanced diagnostic and detection methods to support fish health and welfare.

The event brings together pre-revenue and emerging aquaculture companies; established players and suppliers in the sector; financial, venture capital and private equity investors; government representatives and regulators; and service providers and consultants.

As well as online presentations and interactive panel debates, the Summit gives attendees the chance to meet one-on-one in a virtual format, creating opportunities for networking during the event. It will also provide the

Summit

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www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:12:12

S

All the latest industry news from the UK

Benchmark reports strong growth in Q3 GENETICS and animal health specialist Benchmark Group saw its revenue and profits surging back in the third quarter of this year, with strong performance in all areas, especially in the sale of salmon eggs.

The group’s revenue for Q3 was £28.3m, up 17% on the same period last year. Revenue for the year to date is £87.8m, an increase of 9% on the first three quarters of 2020.

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was £4.4m, up 110% on Q3 of 2020, and adjusted operating profit was £2.9m, up 383% on the same quarter last year. Adjusted operating profit for the year to date was £7.3m (up 40%).

Statutory accounts, however, show an operating loss of £5.9m for the year to date and a loss of £1.2m for the latest quarter (the previous year saw statutory losses of £8.1m for the first three quarters and a loss, restated, for Q3 2020 of £4.2m.

Benchmark also reports liquidity of around £51m as at 23 August 2021.

Genetics was the best performing division, with revenues up 21% driven by demand for salmon eggs. Advanced nutrition revenues increased by 15% year on year. The group expects to see revenue increase further once its sea lice treatment Ectosan/CleanTreat comes onstream.

Benchmark CEO Trond Williksen said: “We are very pleased with the results and progress in Q3 2021 and the subsequent period. Our three business areas performed strongly, and we achieved a major strategic milestone with the successful commercial launch of Ectosan® Vet and CleanTreat®. We now have the basis to have three profitable business areas moving the Group closer to overall profitability.

“There is good momentum in the business following the streamlining exercise conducted in 2020 and the adoption of a new commercial focus. Our end markets are gradually recovering from the impact of Covid-19, creating a positive environment for our business. All this provides confidence in our ability to deliver full year results in line with market expectations, as well as progress in future years.”

Climate change research grant for Stirling’s Falconer for industry to develop UnIvERSITy of Stirling researcher Dr Lynne future responses to short- and longFalconer has been awarded a £1.5m term changes.

Dr Falconer grant for a project said: “The Felthat aims to help the aquaculture lowship provides an outstanding industry use data to mitigate the opportunity to impact of climate establish my own research team and change.

Dr Falconer, of the Above: Lynne Falconer lead an ambitious programme of reInstitute of Aquaculsearch that will have ture at Stirling, has been awarded a UK Research real-world impact.”

“Marine aquaculture is an and Innovation (UKRI) Future important contributor to the Leaders Fellowship award for global food system. But climate her proposal to use data from change is a threat, as fish salmon farms located on the coasts of Scotland and Norway production is highly influenced to develop tools for better deby the farm environment. Even small changes in the farmcision-making, as the industry ing conditions can affect fish faces up to the effects of global growth, health and welfare. warming.

Dr Falconer is one of 97 Together with her research Fellows awarded in the current team, she will use a combinaround of the Future Leaders tion of fieldwork, data analysis Fellowships scheme, worth a and predictive modelling to total of £96m. develop a framework of tools

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13/09/2021 18:12:52

European News

NEWS...

NTS wins contested bid for Norway Royal Salmon in dramatic twist

Above: Norwegian Royal Salmon farm

DESPITE predictions to the contrary, NTS emerged the winner in the battle to own Norway Royal Salmon (NRS).

On 26 August, in a day of high drama and more than a few surprises in Oslo, NTS announced in the morning it had acquired only just over 40% of the shares in the business. Rival fish farmer SalMar, which was also keen to acquire NRS, looked to be on its way to victory.

But as the deadline for acceptance of the NTS offer drew to a close that afternoon, NTS won two key share blocks from Egil Kristoffersen and Sonner, and from Norway Fresh, taking the NTS stake to more than 70% and sealing the deal.

NTS had offered NOK 240 a share and faced a rival bid from SalMar with a higher figure of NOK 270. Acceptance of the latter depended on SalMar acquiring 50% of the company’s shares.

SalMar said in a brief statement that evening: “SalMar’s announced voluntary cash offer to buy all outstanding shares in Norway Royal Salmon ASA will not be promoted.”

According to reports from Norway, business magnate Helge Gåsø, who is the

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largest single shareholder in NRS and who also represents NTS on the NRS board, was ready to try to block the SalMar bid.

NRS said in announcement to the Oslo Stock Exchange that NTS ASA will become the owner of NRS, having secured more than 50% of the shares in the business. This made it impossible for SalMar to gain more than half of the stock.

NTS is a major player in the supply of wellboats, support vessels and other aquaculture support services, but its salmon farming operations are relatively modest, which is why it was so keen to get its hands on NRS. Meanwhile, NTS also posted secondquarter operating revenues of NOK 601m (£50m) against NOK 610m for the same period last year.

NTS ASA’s total operating revenues in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to NOK 601m (£49.7m), compared with NOK 610m (£50.4m) in the same period last year.

This gave an EBITDA of NOK 221m (£18m), compared with NOK 205m and a group operating profit of NOK 130m (£10.8m) against NOK 119m 12 months ago.

Norwegian salmon sales hit August record EXPORTS of Norwegian salmon hit a new August record last month, with sales totalling NOK 7bn (£584m).

The country’s fish farmers exported 119,000 tonnes during the month, an increase of 21% on volume and 33% in value compared with August last year.

Seafood exports of all types, including whitefish, shellfish and pelagic species such as herring and mackerel, also soared to a new high last month, totalling NOK 9.6bn, (£800m) up by 23% or NOK 2.3bn (£192m).

On salmon sales, Seafood Council analyst Paul T.Aandahl said:“We have never had such a strong August for salmon exports, either in volume or value.

“Increased tourism and a gradual reopening of the restaurant sector are two of the explanations.

At the same time, we also see that home consumption is increasing in several markets, which has raised the demand for salmon compared with August last year.”

Poland was the largest growth market for salmon.

Aandahl added:“There is still a high demand for processed products such as smoked salmon and pre-packaged salmon portions for sale in retail in markets such as Germany, France and Italy.This means that sales of salmon as a raw material to the processing industry are increasing.”

Seafood Council CEO Renate Larsen said the reopening of the world community was obviously having a positive effect.

Farmed trout sales also performed well in value terms last month despite a 6% drop in volume.

They totalled NOK 404m (£34m), a rise of NOK 79m (£6.6m) or 25% with the US, Belarus and the Ukraine the largest markets.

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:15:43

All the latest industry news from Europe

Icelandic Salmon to launch own brand ICELANDIC Salmon is preparing to launch its own brand in the coming weeks.

The company said the label would be called “Arnarlax – Sustainable Icelandic Salmon” and would help the group break into new markets as well as differentiate its products from others. The launch is expected some time during the current quarter.

Icelandic Salmon is the parent company of Arnarlax, the largest producer of Atlantic Salmon in Iceland and owned by the Norwegian giant SalMar. It said: “With Icelandic super-chill technology, Icelandic Salmon has continued to expand a new export route by boat to the US, with a lower carbon footprint and less cost than air freight.

“The group also signed a contract with a local partner for production of pre-rigour fillet, which is a new product for Icelandic Salmon.

The announcement was made on presentation of the group’s first-half (January-June) results,

which show a small increase in revenues to €35.7m. The operational EBIT or profit came out at €3.43m against a loss of €490,000 in the first half of last year.

The company also generated a half year pre-tax profit of €2.95m compared with a loss of €6.88m 12 months earlier.

It said: “Continued attention to cost efficiency and increased market prices have contributed to the good financial result. The total own harvest in the period was 4,848 tonnes, and biological performance improved especially on mortality and growth rate.

“Low lice levels recorded and no delicing required. Two Arctic char facilities were acquired in the period. Conversion to smolt production is underway and will increase the group’s total smolt capacity with approximately 800,000 smolt in 2022 and 1,500,000 smolt in 2023.”

The statement added: “Icelandic Salmon experienced positive development in biology in the

first half of 2021, mainly related to reduced mortality and a better growth rate.

“A change of harvest strategy with lower biomass into the winter season and lower density in the cages contributed to the improved results.

“The majority of the fish was harvested towards the end of the period, leading to a favourable price achievement.”

A new barge and a service boat were delivered during the period, further extending the group’s production capabilities.

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13/09/2021 18:16:20

European News

Photo: Vasco Pinhol

Aquaship selects Cflow for wellboats

AQUACULTURE services provider Aquaship has chosen Norwegian company Cflow to install fish-handling technology on two newly commissioned wellboats.

The vessels, Grip Marine and Grip Explorer are both conversions from offshore industry PSVs (platform supply vessels), adapted for live fish transport.

Cflow will deliver complete water treatment and fish handling systems for the vessels. The advanced control system will monitor fish handling operations onboard and also collect data to continuously improve fish welfare and efficiency.

Nils Otterlei, Chief Operating Officer at Aquaship, said: “It is crucial for us to have the latest technology onboard. We have had a good cooperation with Cflow over decades and with Grip Marine and Grip Explorer we are taking it one step further. In addition we are reducing our environmental footprint through converting existing vessels instead of building from scratch.”

Chlorine spill impact “limited” says Grieg THE environmental impact from a chlorine spill at a Grieg Seafood site has been “temporary and limited”, the company said.

The leak, at Grieg Seafood Finnmark’s harvesting plant in northern Norway, killed an estimated 96,000 salmon in four pens outside the plant.The incident took place on 10 August and appears to have involved 15,000 litres of chlorine, which is used to disinfect the harvesting plant.

Grieg said that the lost fish were insured and that no staff were injured in the incident.

The company engaged Akvaplan-niva, an accredited subsidiary of the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), to carry out an independent report on the impact of the spill. Chlorine is highly toxic to marine life, but it rapidly breaks down in water and the consultants’ report confirmed that the impact on the local environment was temporary.Akvaplan said that its investigation showed that fish and seabed species were already recolonising the affected area and the effect of the spill had been confined to a limited area.

Managing Director of Grieg Seafood Finnmark,Vidar Aamo Nikolaisen, said: “I am relieved that the environmental consequences are limited and temporary, and that the spill has not impacted the Altafjord. Fortunately, recovery and recolonisation around the harvesting plant will proceed quickly, according to the assessment.

“Still, this is a very serious incident. It is first and foremost a fish welfare tragedy. During the three years that each salmon is under our care, we constantly work to ensure the best possible fish health and welfare. It is painful to think about what our fish have gone through. Such a leak should not occur.

We will get to the bottom of this matter and we will learn from the incident at all levels in the organisation.”

He apologised for the incident and said the company would work to rebuild the trust it had lost.

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SalMar and Aker launch offshore farming venture SALMAR has entered into a strategic partnership with Aker ASA, the industrial investment company specialising in energy, seafood and marine biotechnology, to establish a global offshore aquaculture business The new joint venture company will be known as SalMar Aker Ocean AS and will conduct fish farming in open water and in some instances, far out at sea.

The partnership combines Aker and SalMar’s industry knowledge and leading expertise in salmon farming, industrial software and environmental technology, the two companies said.

Aker will invest up to NOK 1.65bn (£136m) in three tranches. The initial aim is to operate in Norwegian waters, but the new company eventually plans to expand internationally.

Their plan is to create “the world’s most reliable and intelligent aquaculture business out at sea with the highest requirements for fish welfare” along with an ambition for zero emissions for the entire value chain.

SalMar already has considerable experience in offshore farming through its Ocean Farm projects.

SalMar CEO Gustav Witzøe said: “SalMar’s investment in sea-based farming marked the start of a new era in the seafood industry.

“We are very pleased to enter

into this collaboration with a strong industrial partner such as Aker. Together we will lead development and ensure sustainable growth in salmon conditions.

“We will exploit the ocean’s potential to produce healthy food, use digital technology and environmental technology, and together with the unique supplier industry ensure long-term and sustainable food production.

Together we can take the next technological leap for aquaculture, and we have a global ambition.”

Aker CEO Øyvind Eriksen added: “The aquaculture industry is facing a new, and even more sustainable era, and opens up for the use of a new resource base with green production.

Andreas Ervik will lead the company as CEO and the board will consist of six members, including Gustav Witzøe, Atle Eide, Kjell Inge Røkke and Øyvind Eriksen.

SalMar and Aker believe the new offshore technology opens up large new areas for salmon farming, where salmon can grow under optimal conditions.

SalMar Aker Ocean said it would continue to develop this technology to ensure production on salmon conditions, meet the highest requirements for fish welfare and minimise its environmental footprint.

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13/09/2021 18:16:54

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13/09/2021 11:11:25

European News

Bakkafrost unveils big increase in profits for Q2

BAKKAFROST more than doubled its operating profit in the second quarter of this year, the Faroe Islands and Scotland fish farmer has reported.

The profit or EBIT came out at 407.5m Danish kroner (DKK) (£47m), compared to DKK 181.9m (£21m) during the same period last year.

Revenues totalled DKK 1.6bn (£182m) against DKK 1.1bn (£126m) a year ago on a total harvest of 28,200 tonnes, which was split between 17,600 tonnes from the Faroe islands and 10,600 tonnes from Scotland (the

Scottish Salmon Company, which Bakkafrost owns).

Harvest volumes for 2021 are expected to total 106,000 tonnes with 66,000 tonnes coming from the Faroes and 40,000 tonnes from Scotland.

Commenting on the result, CEO Regin Jacobsen said that he was satisfied with the results overall.

He reported: “Despite the salmon market still being somewhat hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the market was quite strong in the quarter, especially the US market, which has taken

increasing volumes of salmon.

The global harvest was only 1% up, compared with the same quarter last year. However, inventories have been released resulting in an increase in global supply of nearly 9%, compared with the second quarter last year.

“Looking ahead, the salmon market outlook is tight for the rest of 2021 as well as for H1 2022.”

Jacobsen continued: “We are especially pleased with the progress made in our hatcheries in the Faroe Islands, which during this quarter released 3.2 million

smolt with an average size of 422g. Hence, we are closing in on our 500g target in our largesmolt strategy.

“We are very excited about this development and that our ongoing expansions of hatcheries in the Faroe Islands and in Scotland are progressing well, especially in Scotland, where having larger smolts is a key enabler for improving the performance of the farming operation.

“This is therefore also an important investment area for us, which not only benefits our operation, but also the suppliers in local communities where we operate.”

The importance of fish farming companies to the economies where they operate is illustrated

by Bakkafrost’s announcement that its sourcing from local suppliers in Scotland totalled DKK 500m (£57m) and DKK 876m (£100m) in the Faroe Islands during the first six months of this year.

In addition to planned investments in the value chain in the Faroe Islands, Bakkafrost expects to invest DKK 350-400m (£40m-45m)a year in Scotland between now and 2024. A significant part of this will be invested in building three large hatcheries to increase smolt capacity and become self-sufficient with large smolt.

Mowi fined NOK 800,000 over breach of ISA rules THE police chief in Norway’s Troms region has fined Mowi NOK 800,000 (£67,000) for violating the country’s aquaculture and food legislation.

The company has accepted the penalty without comment. The incident revolves around the emptying of a site in Dyrøy municipality on the orders of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority in the summer of last year after the fish disease infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) was discovered.

The authority had ordered the site to be closed by 1 June 2020.

According to the Directorate of Fisheries, Mowi had violated section 28 of the Food Act by not being sufficiently careful, so that there was a danger of developing or spreading ISA. The Directorate added: “Furthermore, the police consider that the requirements for establishing and implementing systematic control measures in section 23 of the Aquaculture Act and Section 5 of IK Aquaculture have been violated.”

An employee is said to have cut holes in the bottom of a seine bag and released a small amount of dead fish into the sea.

The report also points to a lack of risk assessment, procedures and training that should have provided adequate guidance for emptying cages during plant closures, when there was a risk of spreading

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infectious animal diseases.

As well as infringements of the Food Act in relation to ISA, the police also believe that requirements for establishing and implanting certain control measures in the Aquaculture Act were breached.

Above Mowi farm, Norway

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:18:45

All the latest industry news from Europe

Lerøy posts sharp rise in Q2 sales LERØY Seafood, the combined fish farming and whitefish trawling company, today reported higher-than-expected second-quarter sales of NOK 5.3bn (£431m), up nearly 13% from NOK 4.7bn (£383m) for the same period last year.

Lerøy, along with SalMar, is co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms (Norskott Havbruk), which saw its income jump from NOK 7.5m in the April-June period a year ago to NOK Above: Henning Beltestad 51m (£4.2m).

The group reported:  Operating profit before fair value adjustment related to biological assets NOK 583m (£47m);  EBIT/kg “all inclusive” excluding whitefish NOK 13.8/kg. Prices realised in the quarter were affected by winter wounds; and  Earnings from land-based operations for whitefish remain weak but with a significant improvement. There was a positive quota situation for the trawler fleet for the second half of 2021, with expected catch volume of around 73,000 tonnes of whitefish.

A dividend of NOK 2 per share will be paid this quarter. CEO Henning Beltestad said the second-quarter growth had been good and he expected that to continue.

He added: “In the first quarter, demand in the grocery trade was strong. This has continued in the second quarter where we have also seen a gradual improvement in demand from the hotel, restaurant and catering markets as a result of a reduction in restrictions related to Covid-19. Our experience is that seafood’s position in the market is very strong.”

Halibut farmer signs feed deal with Aller Aqua

Above Magne Torgersen (R) with Aller Aqua’s Sturle Skeidsvoll

NORWEGIAN farm business Sterling White Halibut (SWH) has agreed a six-year supply contract with feed producer Aller Aqua.

Denmark-based Aller Aqua has been collaborating with SWH, the world’s largest producer of farmed halibut, since 2017 to ensure a supply of feed tailored to the needs of the fish.

Halibut, a slow-growing fish, takes four years to reach harvest size and SWH produces in the region of 1,700 tonnes of halibut yearly.

The halibut are grown in Ryfylke in Norway, and SWH handles the entire lifecycle of the fish, from broodstock through roe and larvae, to grow-out until the fish are ready for harvest.

Magne Torgersen, CEO of SWH, commented: “Aller Aqua have shown us that they mean it when they say they want to grow together. Their feed quality, and their input and availability, have been key in our decision, and we, therefore, have no queries signing a long-term contract. Together we find solutions and our fish have never been better.”

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13/09/2021 18:20:49

European News

Mowi Q2 profit of €137m boosted by Scottish division STRONG demand for salmon gave Mowi’s operating profits boost during the second quarter of this year, with its Scottish division performing particularly well.

The world’s largest salmon farmer today reported a global Q2 operational EBIT or profit of €137m, against €99m for the corresponding period last year.

Revenues increased from €911m to €1,000m.

The company said: “Strong demand for salmon drove prices higher in all markets in the quarter and resulted in better earnings for Mowi. Spot prices soared by 18% in Europe and close to 50% in the Americas.

“Generally less restrictive Covid-19 measures have sparked food service demand while retail demand holds up at a high level.”

Commenting on the results, CEO Ivan Vindheim said: “Demand for salmon has strengthened as Covid-19 measures have become less restrictive in most countries.

“The demand response was impressive during the quarter with approximately 25% higher

Above: Ivan Vindheim

global salmon prices yearon-year despite a relatively high global supply growth of 9% including frozen inventory release from Chile.

“Profits in Mowi Farming improved on the back of higher prices and stable harvest volumes and cost. Mowi Consumer Products had yet another a good quarter with record-high volumes for a second quarter.”

Mowi Scotland saw its operational profit double from €14.3m to €29.9m on the back of a much higher harvest, which rose by almost 4,600 tonnes to 19,162 tonnes, thanks to improved biology and average harvest weights.

The contract share at 51% was slightly down on last year (57%), but was positive, said the company.

Mowi said there continued to be a notable reduction in PD (pancreas disease) cases within Mowi Scotland and Pasteurella skyensis detections have been absent throughout the first half of 2021 following the introduction of a vaccine during 2020.

“However,” the report said, “CMS (cardiomyopathy syndrome) remains at a relatively high rate of detection.

Sea lice levels in the second quarter were normal at most locations and additional control methods have materialised in the form of a second freshwater treatment vessel and high availability of cleaner fish from the breeding programme in Anglesey, North Wales.

“The transition to larger and fewer pen units in Scotland is proceeding as planned and 160m pens are now operational in Loch Seaforth, Western Isles.”

In Norway ,Mowi has decided to split up its largest farming unit, Norway Region Mid, into two new regions, which will be called West and Mid.

Shetland shines as Grieg Q2 profits rise GRIEG Seafood delivered higher profits during the second quarter of this year with its outgoing Shetland operation performing particularly well. However, the company’s Chief Executive, Andreas Kvame, said he was “not satisfied” with the results.

The company has agreed to sell its Shetland business to Scottish Sea Farms for £164m in a deal that it expects to complete by the end of the year.

The group made a pre-tax profit for the quarter of NOK 131m (£11m), well up from NOK 4m (£326,300) in Q2 of last year. EBIT for Q2 this

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year was NOK 44m (£3.6m).

Sales were lower than predicted, down from NOK 1.16bn (£95m) to NOK 1.1bn (£90m), while harvest volumes fell from 20,140 tonnes in Q2 last year to 17,812 tonnes this time.

Regarding Shetland, Kvame said: “We entered a sales purchase agreement with Scottish Sea Farms to sell our Shetland operations for £164m (now awaiting regulatory Above: Andreas Kvame approval).

“Substantial improvement efforts over several years are completed in the region, resulting in a profit for the quarter. I am pleased to hand over a healthy business to new owners for further development.”

He added: “The market is getting better, prices are increasing, and biology is improving across the regions. At the same time, we still experienced some bumps in the road. I am not satisfied with an EBIT of NOK 44m.

“British Columbia was a highlight with stable biological control for yet another quarter, coupled with high prices in a strong US market. Rogaland delivered a satisfactory result, although the share of fixed-price contracts affected earnings.

“Finnmark [Norway], however, remained impacted by remnants of the challenging biology from last winter.

Downgrades, harvest weight and the harvest profile affected price achievement negatively.”

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:21:35

All the latest industry news from Europe

Columbi unveils plan for Ostend fish farm SALMAR chief Gustav Witzøe is among the big-name industry investors behind a plan to build a large land-based salmon farm in the port of Ostend on the Belgian coast.

The company Columbi Salmon, which is behind the project, has just completed a capital-raising exercise that netted NOK 162m (£13.5m).

Among the participants are the Refsnes salmon farming family, Witzøe’s investment platform Kverva Finans AS and the investment company Ferd AS. SalMar recently strengthened its longstanding relationship with Refsnes by buying 45% stake in the business.

Columbi Salmon said the capital raising was the next step on the company’s journey to become the EU’s leading sustainable onshore salmon farming company.

Columbi CEO Anders Hagen added: “We are very proud to have some of the world’s leading private aquaculture investors as our owners.

“The Refsnes family’s 103-year-old industrial experience has been crucial in the start-up phase. The capital raise is an important step towards the realisation of our first facility in Belgium.

“The facility and the associated local ecosystem will position Columbi Salmon as the EU’s most sustainable aquaculture company.”

Columbi Salmon was founded by the Refsnes family, who were among the early pioneers of salmon farming, because they wanted to see aquaculture with an improved environmental footprint.

The plan is to build a plant with a salmon capacity of 12,000-15,000 tonnes a year.

In addition to fish, the plant will produce vegetables and lettuce based on waste from fish production.

The water used for producing smolt will be transferred to Columbi’s aquaponics facility, where 4,000 tonnes of salad will be produced annually without using a speck of soil.

Hagen declared: “We are in full swing with the development of the facility in Ostend, which will be the world’s most advanced, safe and sustainable.

“Our driving force is to build both more efficiently and sustainably than anyone has seen before, so that production is profitable, the footprint is low and fish welfare is good.”

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13/09/2021 18:22:19

European News

SalMar buys into family owned farm business Kingfish almost doubles H1 revenues

Above: Revsnes Laks

FISH farming giant SalMar has entered into agreement to acquire a 45% stake in family-owned business Refsnes Laks through a combination of share purchases and private placement. The purchase price is NOK 665m (around £55m).

Refsnes Laks is a relatively small player in the Norwegian salmon sector, based in Revsnes, Trøndelag. It has around 23 employees.

Company operations focus on producing sustainable salmon in cages at sea. However, its salmon is sold to dozens of countries worldwide, especially in the Asia region. Annual production is just under 4,000 tonnes.

Company chairman Ivar Refsnes said that for many years a close and value-creating collaboration had been developed between SalMar and Refsnes.

This applied to production,

processing and sales in an international market. Ivar Refsnes maintained SalMar’s acquisition of a significant ownership interest in the company was a natural continuation of that collaboration.

“It will strengthen the financial basis for the company with its base in Åfjord municipality. This is a good solution for both parties,” he added.

SalMar said the transaction would provide it with further sustainable growth in the immediate vicinity of existing fish farming areas in central Norway and it” will be a good industrial solution that ensures significant synergies and further development of existing activity and operational competence.”

Completion of the transaction is conditional on approval from the Norwegian Competition Authority.

THE Kingfish Compa- reflected development costs related to ny, which specialises the upscaling of the in the production business, as well as of farmed yellowthe planned expantail, came close to doubling its revenues, sion of capacity in the Netherlands, where year-on-year, for the the company’s existfirst half of 2021.

Publishing its H1 re- ing yellowtail farm is port, Kingfish said net situated.

The Kingfish Maine turnover rose by 95% farm will be similar to during the period the system operated and at a time when by the parent commany restaurants in pany in the NetherEurope and the US lands, using the same were closed due to pandemic restrictions. advanced technology solutions to minimise It increased from the impact of effluent. €1.946m a year ago CEO Ohad Maiman to almost €3.8m this told the Oslo time.

Euronext Growth With investment still going into a land-based farm in the US state of Maine, the company is still not in profit, however. It reported a consolidated loss of €3.56m, against a loss of €1.29m in H1 last year, but the company described the results as “excellent” and in line with expectations.

It said the losses Above Yellowtail

Exchange, where the company’s shares are listed: “We are in the process of doubling the capacity to more than 3,000 tonnes in the Netherlands and are in advanced stages of the development of a plant of 6,000-8,000 tonnes in the US, with a view to groundwork starting between Q4 in 2021 and Q1 in 2022.”

The group spent €10.3m on capital investment during the period, mostly related to the expansion of its Dutch facilities.

Norway consults on new fish farming permit scheme Norway is consulting on a proposed new permit scheme for opening up so-far undeveloped areas suitable for aquaculture. The Government said the new scheme had been tailored to meet future environmental challenges.

Fisheries and Seafood Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen made it clear that while the Government was keen for the industry to expand, it would have to be under stricter requirements.

He said: “We have natural advantages for producing more of the healthy seafood that the world needs. Therefore, we are proposing a scheme with new environmentally friendly permits that gives the industry the opportunity to use new areas and develop new technology to produce more seafood.”

He believes that production in open cages will continue to be the mainstay of fish farming in Norway, but land-based farming and the development of aquaculture further out to sea also need to be considered.

“With this scheme we are going in

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a new direction that gives the aquaculture industry the opportunity to use new areas along the coast,” he added.

In the first year, permits will be granted for up to 15,000 tonnes of biomass (MTB). Each individual applicant can receive a maximum of 10 permits, anchored to strict environmental requirements.

The permits, part of an environmental technology scheme, are in addition to the growth regulated through the current traffic light system.

Minister of Climate and Environment Sveinung Rotevatn said: “The aquaculture industry creates great deal of value for Norway. But further growth must take place within a sustainable framework. Consideration for nature in general, and the wild axis in particular, is of crucial importance.”

As this issue goes to press, however, Norwegians are voting in a general election that could bring a new government to power.

Left: Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:23:12

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13/09/2021 11:12:45

World News

NEWS...

Huon reports financial loss HUON Aquaculture, the Tasmanian salmon farming company at the centre of a takeover battle, has suffered a loss of AUS $128m (£67m) for the financial year ended 30 June.

The company said it had been a turbulent year, with challenges including a fish pen fire, rising transport costs and the disappearance of a large consignment of fish from a processing plant in New South Wales.

At the time this issue went to press, Huon was subject to an offer of AUS $426m (£226m) from the Brazilian meat processing giant JBS. The offer has board approval, but Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest has been trying to block the takeover on fish welfare and environmental grounds. JBS, however, dismissed his criticisms in a full-page Tasmanian newspaper advert.

Although Huon’s revenue rose by 24% during the period (July 2020 to June 2021), its financial performance was badly affected by the impact of Covid-19 which led to a reduction in global demand for salmon.

This, in turn, brought a reduction in salmon prices which continued for most of the financial year.

Huon said it had started the new financial year with significant biomass in the water,

Above: Huon Aquaculture

including fish for harvest carried over from the previous period. Growing conditions at the start of the 2020-21 financial year were exceptional, but a long and very warm summer during the second half resulted in lower average weights.

The company said it expected conditions to

improve in 2022.

Meanwhile, Huon had some positive news in late August, picking up a clutch of top awards for the quality of its fish. The company won the Champions Seafood Trophy at the 2021 Royal Tasmanian Fine Food Awards, with five products gaining gold and a further four winning silver.

Barramundi Group hires Mowi veteran Vincent Erenst

Above: Vincent Erenst

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AQUACULTURE business Barramundi Group has appointed Vincent Erenst as Chief Operating Officer of Production. He will be based in Singapore.

With close to four decades of experience in the aquaculture sector, Erenst is an industry veteran with extensive experience gleaned through his time with some of the largest aquaculture operations globally, including a 12-year tenure in directorial positions at Mowi ASA (previously known as Marine Harvest).

In his most recent role, Erenst served as Group Chief Operating Officer at Greek seabass and seabream producer Avramar, formerly known as Andromeda Group. Before Avramar, Erenst held key leadership positions at Marine Harvest Group, and during his time strengthened the Group’s positioning in North America, notably driving strong business growth for Marine Harvest Canada for over a decade.

Erenst said: “I am excited to join the team at Barramundi Group, along with their ambitious growth plan to see this wonderful fish become a

popular choice for consumers worldwide.”

His predecessor, Andrés Johnson, is moving on having concluded his three-year term with the group.

Andreas von Scholten, Chief Executive Officer of the group, said: “The board and management are thrilled to have a global top talent such as Vincent on board with Barramundi Group’s mission to feed the world responsibly and sustainably. We are confident that his addition will move the needle for our growth vision at this pivotal milestone that follows our recent listing on the Euronext Growth Oslo exchange.

At the same time, we would like to thank Andrés for his immeasurable contribution to the integral capability-building phase for the Group over the last three years.”

Barramundi is a vertically integrated aquaculture business, operating farms in Australia, Singapore and Brunei. It recently celebrated its opening day on Oslo’s Euronext Growth Oslo stock exchange, following a private placement that raised around NOK 130.8 (£10.7m) ahead of the listing.

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:25:24

All the latest industry news from around the world

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From the top: Abu Dhabi; Dr Tariq-Bin-Hendi; Dr Shaikha-Salem-Al-Dhaheri

INTERNATIONAL land-based aquaculture business Pure Salmon is relocating its global headquarters to Abu Dhabi, in a move that the government hopes will encourage the development of sustainable food production.

Pure Salmon is owned by private equity fund 8F Asset management, which earlier this year raised £290m to develop recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facilities in Poland, Japan, France and the US. The company said it was about to announce the location of its first 10,00-tonnesper-annum facility in Japan, which will be the largest Atlantic salmon RAS facility in Asia and one of the largest globally. In Japan, Pure Salmon will operate under the name Soul of Japan.

Pure Salmon plans to build and operate multiple, vertically integrated aquaculture production and processing facilities with capacities of 10,000 tonnes and 20,000 tonne, around the world. It aims to be producing as much as 260,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon production annually by 2025.

Under the deal with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Pure Salmon will receive financial and non-financial incentives, not only to relocate its HQ but also to build the host country’s food sustainability using RAS technology.

The company’s Abu Dhabi headquarters will manage global

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production facilities in Poland, Japan, the US and France. The partnership is part of ADIO’s AED 2 billion (£396m) Innovation Programme.

Dr Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, said: “Over the last year, Abu Dhabi’s AgTech [agricultural technology] sector has experienced exponential growth, led by rapid technological developments that are enabling sustainable agriculture and farming practices to take root in arid and desert climates.

“The introduction of Pure Salmon’s pioneering technology and knowledge to Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem will enhance the emirate’s aquaculture capabilities and create a hub from which new agriculture solutions can proliferate. ADIO is committed to supporting businesses aligned with our mission of advancing regional and global innovation.”

Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency (EAD) has identified aquaculture as a priority sector. EAD’s Secretary General, Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, said: “One of [our] key initiatives seeks to encourage economic investment in the sector, thereby reducing pressure on the UAE’s severely overexploited fisheries, providing meaningful employment and generating wealth for citizens by producing safe, wholesome and high-quality seafood products.”

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13/09/2021 18:28:21

World News

Russian Aquaculture is back in the black RUSSIAN Aquaculture is in profit again and revenue is up substantially for the first half of this year.

The company’s unaudited results for the six months to 30 June show a net profit of almost RUB 2bn (£19.8m) compared with a loss of RUB 0.4bn (£4m) for the first half of last year. Adjusted EBITDA was RUB 2.4bn (£23.8m), an increase of 6% on the same period in 2020.

Revenue totalled RUB 6.7bn (£66.4m), up 28% on H1 of 2020.

Biomass at the end of the half was 22,200 tonnes (30 June Above: Russian aquaculture 2020: 9,300 tonnes).

The company’s half-year Russian Aquaculture is one of the country’s report also records that Russian Aquaculture largest producers of farmed salmon and trout, made capital investments worth RUB 2.2bn with sites in Murmansk and Karelia. (£21.8m), spending on equipment for its CEO Ilya Sosnov said that the growth in farms and also taking 100% ownership of its production volumes this year had had a processing plant, which was previously jointly positive impact on revenue and EBITDA, and owned. weight gain for its fish had been “excellent”.

He added: “Our results in the first half of the year were also supported by growth of the market. The Russian salmon market grew by 50% in the first half of 2021 in volume terms compared with the first half of 2020, and by 47% compared with the first half of 2019. This growth further reinforces our conviction in the fundamental long-term outlook for the Russian fish market and prospects for increasing sales volumes of our fresh, highquality products.

“We continue to invest in implementing our growth strategy... we have successfully integrated our primary processing plant into all of our business processes, bringing us much closer to our goal of building the largest vertically integrated player in the aquaculture segment.”

The company’s board recommended paying out dividends totalling RUB 352m (£3.5m), based on the first-half results.

Atlantic Sapphire posts losses for Q2 after mortalities MIAMI-based salmon company Atlantic Sapphire continued to find life difficult during the first half of this year, delivering weakerthan-expected financial results for Q2.

The Danish-owned land-based salmon farming company, which experienced a number of technical problems earlier in the year, reported a pre-tax loss of US $51.5m (£37.6m), against a loss of $31.5m (£23m) in the same quarter last year. The loss is higher than analysts had predicted.

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However, revenues more than increased fourfold from $2.5m (£1.8m) to almost $10.9m (£7.9m).

Shortly after releasing its Q2 figures, the company faced a crisis when its Florida farm came close to running out of liquid oxygen. The company’s supply was placed at risk following a surge in demand from coronavirusstricken hospitals across the US as infection rates rose again.

Atlantic Sapphire said it had managed to secure access to

oxygen, which is vital in keeping fish alive, from new and existing suppliers. These included its original supplier, Miami-Dade County, and at least three other suppliers from outside the state.

Following that announcement, the company share price, which fell by 30% at one point, began to recover.

Back in March, Atlantic Sapphire reported an incident in one of its systems at the Miami Bluehouse site, which led to the loss of 500 tonnes of fish.

The company said the start to 2021 had been challenging, but it has been working hard to correct the problems that led to this loss.

In order to reduce further issues, Atlantic Sapphire, which has around 2,000 outlets in the US, said it had updated certain operating procedures.

The company said in a statement: “Atlantic Sapphire

is continuously improving its operating procedures to ensure that all actions taken by the farm operators do not pose a risk to the stability of the systems, therefore impacting the fish.

“To minimise the risk of a similar incident reoccurring, the group has updated certain operating procedures and such changes will take effect immediately.”

Further, the system in question had a larger standing biomass than the grow-out systems in the US (which are split in two).

The Denmark facility had not been split in two,because this modification was not practically possible with the farm fully stocked with fish, the company said, adding: “Now this modification is possible and will be performed, which will reduce the impact of such an event in the future.”

It says it expected the 3,000 tonnes of harvest volume from the Miami plant could be pushed forward from the second half of this year to the first half of 2022. It is also carrying out trials to produce rainbow trout in Denmark..

Left: Atlantic Sapphire salmon

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:28:55

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World News.indd 25

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2021-03-10 10:12:55

13/09/2021 11:14:49

World News

ASC fish welfare rules set to be tightened

STRICTER fish welfare requirements could be introduced for producers certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council under proposals published this month.

The ASC is also consulting on additional documents accompanying its recently published Feed Standard, which aims to assure consumers that aquafeed used by ASC-certified producers is responsibly and ethically sourced.

The ASC is an independent, not for profit body that sets sustainability and welfare standards for the industry internationally. It was co-founded by the World Wildlife Fund and the Sustainable Trade Initiative in 2010.

The consultation marks the first phase of the ASC’s wide-ranging fish welfare project. A second phase will follow for public consultation at a later date following further research and development, and will bring in other species and address further welfare issues.

The ASC’s draft white paper on fish welfare can be found on the ASC website www.asc-aqua.org. The project’s proposed first phase will include:

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•

Requirements of best practice for water quality.

• Setting of limits for stocking density.

• As an initial approach, prohibiting a number of slaughter practices: asphyxia (suffocation); Carbon dioxide; salt baths or ammonia. Further requirements on slaughter will be added in later phases, such as the prohibition of the use of ice slurry for slaughter.

The phase one requirements above will apply to ASC-certified finfish farms. However, included in phase one will be a requirement for good management practice for all farmers of fish, crustacean and bivalve species, covering issues such as staff training and risk assessment, the ASC said.

Janneke Aelen, ASC Welfare Co-ordinator, said: “There is an understandable desire among our stakeholders, and many consumers, to see more welfare requirements added to the world’s strictest aquaculture certification scheme.

“At the same time, with some of these issues we are in uncharted territory. Sometimes developing

new indicators is a case of gathering pre-existing evidence, but in the case of some welfare issues it has required commissioning our own research.

“The ASC is first and foremost an evidence-based organisation. This approach allows us to tackle the most urgent welfare issues while ensuring we don’t stray from our principles for rigour and evidence.”

The new draft documents relating to the Feed Standard are the Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR) and the Requirements for Unit of Certification (RUoC). While the standard itself sets out the exact indicators that must be met for a mill to produce responsibly sourced feed, the CAR details the requirements a certification body needs to follow in order to conduct audits and certify against the ASC feed standard.

The RUoC is aimed at the organisations seeking certification, which in the case of the Feed Standard will be feed mills. It details the requirements the feed mill will need to take in order to enter and undergo the audit and certification process for the ASC Feed Standard.

Above: Tilapia fingerlings Left: Janneke Aelen

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 18:29:59

All the latest industry news from around the world

WWF publishes hard-hitting report on Tasmanian aquaculture THE Australian branch of the World Wildlife Fund has called for reform of the fish farming industry in Tasmania, following publication of a critical report on the sector’s environmental impact.

WWF-Australia is a stakeholder in the certification schemes overseen by the Marine Stewardship Council and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, but WWF said: “Through our work to pursue sustainability in the growing aquaculture sector in Tasmania, we became aware through the science that the rapid increase in production volumes was cumulatively placing pressure on some ecosystems.”

In December 2019, WWFAustralia commissioned Seafood Advisory, an independent seafood consultancy, to prepare a report to examine the circumstances surrounding the ecological impacts of expanded aquaculture operations in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania.

WWF said that it was

concerned at the cumulative impact of farming operations in enclosed waterways.

Seafood Advisory’s report, published earlier this month, confirms there are ways that aquaculture certification can and should be reformed, particularly to account for cumulative impacts of multiple farms. It also concludes, WWF-Australia said, that “…some impacts of aquaculture in Macquarie Harbour are beyond the scope of certification and need to be addressed through government regulatory reform.”

In a statement on the publication of the report, WWF-Australia said that it would continue to advocate for “transformation” in the aquaculture industry, This will include, the organisation said, working towards a stronger environmental regulatory framework, reforms to marine spatial planning, science-based biomass limits and enhanced

biosecurity measures and environmental scrutiny, including through the transparency of data collection.

WWF-Australia said: “We will also advocate for the development of new solutions and consideration of land-based opportunities, which may be appropriate in certain contexts, and work to ensure animal welfare remains paramount in all aspects of the industry.”

The WWF stressed the Tasmanian state government must take the lead on regulation, and also that seafood suppliers had an important role to play in ensuring that their produce was sourced responsibly.

The report is available via the WWF-Australia website www. wwf.org.au Above: Salmon pens in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania

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13/09/2021 18:30:37

Processing News

Dawnfresh to close Uddingston plant

Photo: Nick Mailer

Dawnfresh Seafoods has announced plans to close its processing plant in Uddingston near Glasgow and expand its site in Arbroath in Angus on Scotland’s east coast.

Above: Raleigh Salvesen – Managing Director, Dawnfresh

DAWNFRESH is consulting with staff at the Uddingston plant, who will be offered positions in Arbroath.

It is proposed that Uddingston will close in mid-2022.

Dawnfresh currently

has 230 permanent production staff in Uddingston and 180 in Arbroath. There will be 150 new permanent production staff in Angus under these plans, available for permanent or agency

staff in Uddingston to apply for. To support employees to make the move, Dawnfresh is offering a relocation allowance, access to local area support from Angus Council, and protection of

current pay and conditions. No current jobs in Arbroath are at risk under the plans, the company said.

Dawnfresh is investing £5m in expanding the Arbroath plant, which it hopes to have fully operational by the middle of next year.

Raleigh Salvesen, Managing Director, Dawnfresh Seafoods, said: “For the remainder of this year and until the move next year, our operations at Uddingston will very much continue as normal. The plan to expand facilities at Arbroath will provide a platform for future

Young’s launches seafood range for kids Young’s seafood has teamed up with cookery author Annabel Karmel MBE to create fish-based frozen meals for youngsters.

Designed for children under five, it’s hoped the tasty and healthy meals will help to inspire the next generation to love fish while supporting the UK Government’s recommendation of eating two portions of fish a week as part of a healthy balanced lifestyle.

The range of meals strongly features salmon. since launching with The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner more than 20 years ago, Karmel has written 38 books, which have sold over four million copies worldwide.

The products have been rolled out across selected Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, and Booths stores, starting with the launch on 2 september.

The Cheesy Fish Pie is made up of Atlantic cod and

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salmon fillet, which are both naturally high sources of essential fatty acids, such as Omega 3.

The Fish and Chip shapes are made with Pollock, peas, carrots and mash in golden breadcrumbs.

Marina Richardson, Marketing Controller at Young’s,

said: “At Young’s we are driven by a belief that a nation that enjoys fish regularly is a happier and healthier nation, and this is something we want to pass on to the next generation. We are excited to join forces with Annabel Karmel to launch dishes that will do just that.”

We are “ incentivising our team to join us on this journey

”

growth and help Dawnfresh to adapt to a changing and highly competitive business sector. This move is critical if we are to

meet our objective of keeping seafood production jobs in Scotland.”

“It will be sad to close our factory in Uddingston, but we are incentivising our team to join us on this journey and hope many of our experienced and skilled staff join us in Arbroath.”

Dawnfresh is a Scottish-owned family company producing 10,000 tonnes of seafood a year for food service and retail both within the UK and internationally. As well as the two processing plants, it has a number of farm sites around Scotland.

Ishimitsu to source BAP certified seafood

Japanese food and beverage conglomerate s.

Ishimitsu & Co Ltd has committed to sourcing seafood from Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified farms and processing plants, the Global aquaculture alliance (now the Global seafood alliance) announced in august. Ishimitsu-Shoji is currently offering shrimp products with the Bap label.

“We pursue social value as well as economic value. In addition to contributing to local communities, we will utilise the technologies, wisdom and partnerships we have cultivated so far to solve social problems around the world.

Expanding sales of BAP-certified products is the first step,” said Mr Shinji Minami, who works in Ishimitsu’s seafood category.

Seafood is part of the food division at Ishimitsu. The other two divisions cover coffee and tea, and export.

BAP is the world’s largest and most comprehensive third-party aquaculture certification programme.

www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

13/09/2021 18:04:32

Processing News

Amber Knight to chair Scottish Seafood Association

Mowi sells Dunkirk processing plant

Amber Knight

THE Scottish Seafood Association, which represents the seafood processing sector in Scotland has elected Amber Knight of MacNeil Shellfish as its first Chairwoman.

Knight thanked outgoing Chairman Ryan Scatterty for his able stewardship during his tenure and said she looked forward to steering the industry through a very challenging and uncertain time. She was nonetheless optimistic, she said, that opportunities were there

to be seized when they arose.

Amber Knight and her partner Michael launched MacNeil Shellfish, which sells wild, creel-caught shellfish including crab, lobster and langoustine, in 2012. MacNeil exports live crustaceans to EU and global markets, so Knight will be fully aware of the pressures of Brexit on the seafood industry.

Andrew Brown, representing Macduff Shellfish, was elected to serve as Vice-Chairman.

SALMON producer Mowi has signed an agreement to sell its processing business at Dunkirk, in northern France. The subsidiary, formerly trading as Appé�’Marine, will be sold to French seafood group Sofipêche.

Appé�’Marine specialises in the produc�on of frozen salmon and seafood speciali�es, and Mowi will con�nue to be a main supplier of salmon to Sofipêche and the Dunkirk plant going forward.

A�er the sale of the Dunkirk plant, Mowi will focus its produc�on ac�vi�es in France on the fresh and smoked market segments, with its specialised produc�on units Mowi Boulogne (fresh) and Mowi Bretagne (smoked) plants.

In a joint statement, Mowi and Sofipêche said: “The Dunkirk plant is specialised in the produc�on of frozen salmon and seafood speciali�es with a qualified staff, which brings complementary value-added business to Sofipêche and fits very well in Sofipêche’s new constella�on.”

Fabrice Barreau, Managing Director of Mowi Western Europe, said: “We are convinced that the Dunkirk plant and its employees are in very good hands with Sofipêche and look forward to con�nuing our rela�onship as an important salmon supplier.”

Above: Mowi’s processing plant at Dunkirk

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13/09/2021 18:05:01

Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation

Shades of Green

BY HAMISH MACDONELL

The platform thrashed out by the SNP and the Scottish Greens is dangerously vague

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T’S all in the detail. Or, rather, in the case of the SNP-Green deal, perhaps it isn’t.

The coalition that isn’t, announced last month, was hardly unexpected. It had been trailed for weeks as the two parties conducted an elaborate dance, partly in the public glare and partly away from it.

But it was only when we got to see the actual text of the deal that it was possible to work out what it could mean and this is where the detail – or the lack of it – is so important.

There is almost one whole page in the agreement devoted to aquaculture and another focused on protecting the marine environment.

Much of the language is of the “motherhood and apple pie” variety.

Take this, from the opening paragraph on aquaculture, which it says “must operate within environmental limits and with social licence and ensure there is a thriving marine ecosystem for future generations”.

It would be difficult to find anybody who wouldn’t agree with that.

However, it is so vague and so open to interpretation that it allows the Greens to pursue one agenda while their partners in government pursue another. One parliamentarian’s “thriving marine ecosystem” is another parliamentarian’s missed opportunity.

And what are the environmental limits that salmon farmers should operate within? Our farmers already work within probably the tightest and most robust regulatory regime in the world. Is this sufficient or does this line allow the Greens to pursue even tougher regulation?

It is simply not clear – but perhaps that was the aim. After all, when a deal of this sort is done between two parties with divergent views on aquaculture, there has to be a fudge and that’s what’s happened. The language has to be so vague that both parties can sign up to it.

The problem is that this vagueness creates gaps and potential avenues that some of the more vociferous and fanatical Greens could exploit.

Take the next section, the one on marine protection. At the heart of this part is a commitment to establish “highly protected marine areas” (HPMAs) where no aquaculture or commercial fishing will be allowed and that will cover 10% of the seas around Scotland.

Again, there is a crucial absence of detail. If that 10% area is made up of oceanic sites, well off the coasts or is mainly focused on the north and east coasts of Scotland, then there will be no clash with salmon farming.

But what if the politicians decide to designate areas where there are

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Above: Salmon farm on Loch Harport, Isle of Skye, Scotland

already salmon farms as highly protected areas?

Do the salmon farms have to move? Will they have to be closed down? Will alternative sites be found for them?

The reality is that we just don’t know.

There is detail in this agreement and the detail comes from the SNP end of the deal. There is a clear commitment to implement the regulatory reform agenda for planning consents that the SNP championed in its election manifesto.

The agreement also includes a promise to bring forward a response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group, which is hardly a surprise as that has been on the cards for months.

What appears to have happened here is that the SNP has gone into negotiations with a clear, thought-out agenda for salmon farming that has been worked up over months. It is an agenda designed to deliver a salmon farming sector that is both sustainable and successful, growing in partnership with the remote rural communities it sustains.

The Greens, in contrast, went into the negotiations with an extraordinarily vague and ill-informed manifesto commitment to end all

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 15:53:34

Shades of Green

“

It is simply not clear – but perhaps that was the aim

”

open-pen salmon farming in Scotland and a demand that regulations be tightened.

The result is the agreement itself, a text that is in some parts tightly focused and in others vague; both precise and woolly.

The precise bits came from the SNP, the woolly bits from the Greens but the danger for Scotland’s salmon farmers is that there is now so much ambiguity in the agreement that some Greens may be able to drive through an anti-salmon farming agenda, even though this is not what the SNP want.

After Labour and the Liberal Democrats first entered into coalition talks back in 1999, Donald Dewar (the then Scottish Labour leader) admitted that he had been hideously ill-prepared for the talks.

He had a few ideas scribbled down on the back of an envelope, the Liberal Democrats came with a clear platform of ideas, all backed by their members and all signed, sealed and laminated for the negotiating team.

Needless to say, it was the Liberal Democrats who got most of what they wanted.

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This time round, the Greens have gone into the negotiations with a few ideas (at least as far as aquaculture is concerned) scribbled on the back of an envelope and it is to the SNP’s discredit that the Greens appear to have got most of what they wanted.

They wanted vague, open-ended commitments to improve environmental protection and tighten regulation, without anyone spelling out what that could mean or why this might be needed.

Much has been written questioning this deal. Why did the SNP do this when they already had Green support for a second independence referendum and other policies besides?

Politically, it appears to be a bad deal for the SNP, a deal that will see the Greens emerge with the credit for any environmental improvements and the SNP attacked for everything that goes wrong in traditional departments.

However, having talked to senior figures in the SNP administration, it is clear there was an overwhelming weariness with minority government.

They had had enough of fighting for every vote, every policy, every parliamentary decision. They wanted the stability of a majority. Indeed, they wanted it more than anything.

All we can hope is that the decision to favour stability and security in government does not result in any unintended consequences, consequences that could tie our sector up in so much red tape it will be difficult to ever extricate ourselves from it.

See also Comment, Martin Jaffa, starting page 32. FF

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13/09/2021 15:54:06

Comment

BY DR MARTIN JAFFA

A blinkered view The SNP-Green policy platform does not give much detail, and it displays little understanding of the facts around salmon farming

T

here has been much debate as to the sense in the SNP allowing the Green Party to join them in a coalition. Arguably the SNP have weakened their position by providing the seven Green MSPs with much greater power than the public intended.

The result of the parties’ agreement is published in a shared draft policy document, Working Together to Build a Greener, Fairer, Independent Scotland, which runs to 51 pages. Their shared policy on aquaculture appears on page 46 and covers less than a page.

Yet although aquaculture receives little coverage, the salmon farming industry should be concerned about this new coalition. This is because the Green Party policy on aquaculture seems to have developed from contact between their environmental spokesman and an anti-salmon farming activist. Apart from this one source, the Green Party has shown little interest in hearing any other view and certainly not that of the industry itself.

The Green Party position on salmon farming is that they want to see a transition to closed containment production, despite little understanding of what this means. Back in July, the Scottish Daily Mail reported that Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater wanted to see all salmon farms shut down but, in the interview, she was forced to admit that she didn’t know where Scotland’s salmon farms were located.

The draft shared strategy includes four recommendations, the first of which – an independent view of the current regulatory regime for fish farming – has already been announced.

The second recommendation is for a vision and strategy for sustainable aquaculture. This already exists. Salmon farming is inherently sustainable and there is already a government plan to expand the industry by 2030. Environmental protection and community benefits, mentioned in the document, are also already part of the existing strategy.

For many years, the industry’s critics have claimed that salmon farming has damaged the environment, yet when they are asked to provide an example, there is a deathly silence. At most, they point the finger at the seabed under the net pens, an area totalling the size of a couple of 18-hole golf courses for all the salmon farms in Scotland, yet it is already well established that this waste is reabsorbed back into the environment and, as no salmon farm site is a permanent structure, the farms can be moved, increasing the speed of seabed recovery.

I have been around long enough to see how salmon farms have

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boosted the life of dying communities that lost young people to the big cities to find work. Some salmon companies have now resorted to building homes for their staff, who are priced out of the local housing market by the same incomers who criticise salmon farm development.

The third recommendation is a programme of work to better protect wildlife and the environment. I repeat the question: where is the evidence that salmon farming is damaging wildlife and the environment?

The greatest number of complaints about the impact of salmon farming come from the anglers who blame salmon farming for the decline of wild salmon and sea trout. They can provide only the most circumstantial evidence to support their claims, but by contrast since the first farmed salmon smolts were put to sea in 1967 anglers have caught and killed 244,551 salmon and 357,170 sea trout in the area for their sport.

The third recommendation also mentions the Salmon Interactions Working Group (SIWG). The makeup of the group ensured that those supporting wild fish were always in the majority. Thus, the group decided that salmon farms did have an impact on wild fish and therefore the discussion focused on what should be done to protect wild fish – but only from salmon farms, not from anglers or any other of the pressures faced by wild salmon populations.

This recommendation also refers to the spatially adaptive sea lice risk assessment framework, even though one of the partner organisations – the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) – told the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Economy and Connectivity committee that sea lice from salmon farms were not responsible for the decline of wild fish stocks.

Wrasse and escapes are also on the agenda. Until salmon farms showed an interest in wrasse, their use and welfare were of little concern. They were fished to provide bait in lobster and crab pots. They were perceived as having no value, until salmon farms were interested in them.

“

They can provide only the most circumstantial evidence to support their claims

”

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 16:54:08

A blinkered view

This too applies to escapes. No farmer wants to lose any fish, but the impact of escaped fish on wild stocks is negligible. In 2012, the wild fish sector spent £1m of government money on investigating the genetic differences of salmon within the same rivers and between fish from different rivers in the Focusing Atlantic Salmon Management on Populations (FASMOP) project. The study failed to identify any differences, but anglers persist in claiming that the genetics of wild salmon will be irrevocably damaged by interbreeding with salmon of farmed origin.

Wild salmon suffer much more damage from dams, agricultural pollution, predation and exploitation, not forgetting climate change. What is being done to address these issues?

The fourth and final recommendation is to commit to supporting local communities (something in which the salmon farming industry already has a good track record) and recreational fisheries. The latter is simply nonsense. Some parts of the industry have in the past tried to help with enhancement of stocks for recreational fishing and in return have received nothing but criticism.

The problem is that the wild fish sector can’t make up their minds whether they want to protect wild salmon or wild salmon fisheries. If it is the first, then stop killing the fish for sport. If it is the second, then the industry is more than willing to help with restocking, something that Marine Scotland Science is steadfastly against.

Removing salmon farms will not bring back wild salmon and sea trout. It is only necessary to look to the east coast fisheries to see that

they are suffering too, yet they are hundreds of miles from any salmon farm.

Finally, this recommendation aims to promote innovation and to support services such as fish health and welfare inspections and monitoring, all things that already take place on a regular basis.

The real problem, in my view, is that the Green Party live in a blinkered world in which their preconceived ideas lack any relationship to the world in which we live. By coincidence, a story has appeared on the national news about the current state of pavements in Brighton and Hove that are being overrun by weeds after the Green Party run council banned the use of herbicides. Local residents say that the pavements are being destroyed by overgrown weeds and plants that are a hazard to the local community. The Sunday Times reports that two elderly ladies have ended up in hospital after falling on a damaged pavement. Is this a foretaste of what will happen when the Scottish Green Party start to exert their influence on Scotland’s daily life? FF

Above: Are anglers defending wild salmon or threatening their survival?

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13/09/2021 16:55:34

Shellfish

BY NICKI HOLMYARD

DEEP waters

Initiatives aimed at restoring native oysters are making good progress in Britain and the US

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a�ve oyster (Ostrea edulis) popula�ons in the UK have declined by 95% since the mid 19th century, due to overfishing, pollu�on, the introduc�on of invasive species and disease. As a result, na�ve oyster reefs are one of the most threatened marine habitats in Europe.

World-wide, oyster reefs are also imperilled, with an es�mated 85% loss in recent �mes.

In the past few decades, the economic and environmental importance of na�ve oysters has become recognised, par�cularly their ability to improve water quality, provide nursery areas and habitat for other species, reduce nitrogen levels in the water, and sequester carbon in their shells. This has led to the se�ng up of a wide range of oyster enhancement and restora�on projects.

Oysters and whisky The Na�ve Oyster Network, a community of academics, conserva�onists, oystermen and NGOs, is one body working to restore self-sustaining popula�ons of na�ve oysters in the UK and Ireland by suppor�ng the growing need of the species, its habitat and those working to restore O. edulis in Europe.

The Na�ve Oyster Restora�on Alliance (NORA) is another. This organisa�on works to overcome exis�ng barriers to the conserva�on, restora�on and recovery of the European oyster by providing a pla�orm for collabora�on and par�cipa�on in knowledge exchange.

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In Scotland, the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project (DEEP), ini�ated by the Glenmorangie Dis�llery with a team of scien�sts from Heriot-Wa� University, has just reported reaching a significant milestone in its efforts to restore a na�ve oyster reef to the Dornoch Firth.

Oysters became ex�nct in the Firth more than 100 years ago, but in August 2021 the project team announced that 20,000 na�ve oysters had now been placed in the water. It is hoped that the success of the work will pave the way for the complete restora�on of the reef. The aim is to see four million oysters living there.

The oysters are intended to play a key role in purifying the waters of the Dornoch Firth, which contains organic byproducts from the dis�llery, as each oyster can filter 200 litres of water per day. An anaerobic diges�on plant commissioned in 2017 reduces the dis�llery’s biological effluent load by around 95%, and the oyster reef is expected to soak up the remaining 5%.

The DEEP team is also inves�ga�ng whether the restored oyster reef habitat has the capacity to act as a long-term carbon store.

“DEEP has enabled us to demonstrate the many benefits of restora�on of long-lost reefs, and car-

We are s�ll uncovering exactly how “ much of a game changer this could be ”

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 15:28:58

DEEP waters

Opposite from top:

Professor Bill Sanderson; DEEP project diver scien�st dives into the Dornoch Firth This page from top: HWU scien�st team and Hamish Torrie, CSR Communica�ons Director at Glenmorangie; Na�ve European oysters from the Dornoch Firth project; Billion Oyster Project, New York City; (L-R) Alex Robertson-Jones and Prof Bill Sanderson

bon storage is yet another exci�ng outcome of our research. We are s�ll uncovering exactly how much of a game changer this could be, but we’re increasingly focusing our research on delving deeper into the role of the oyster reef as a carbon store,” Professor Bill Sanderson of Heriot-Wa� University says.

Professor John Baxter, Chair of DEEP’s Research Advisory Panel, explains that the DEEP research is helping to set the standard in all aspects of marine habitat restora�on work, such as biosecurity and monitoring.

“As we embark on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restora�on (2021-2030) DEEP is a prime example of the mul�ple benefits that can come from such ini�a�ves,” he says.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restora�on has been hailed as a “global rallying cry to heal our planet”. It aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degrada�on of ecosystems on every con�nent and in every ocean, and help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass ex�nc�on.

Thomas Moradpour, CEO and President of the Glenmorangie Company, believes that all businesses should play their part in enhancing the environment, leaving it in be�er shape for the next genera�on. He is pleased that his company is making a difference with the project.

The Sco�sh oyster industry has benefited hugely from DEEP’s demand for the na�ve European oyster. Recognising the need for a sustainable supply chain to aid restora�on efforts in the Dornoch Firth, Glenmorangie and its partners have formed close working rela�onships with UK shellfish growers, who are helping to grow the juvenile oysters needed for the project.

It is hoped that the industry could posi�on itself to supply the 50

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million oysters needed for all of Europe’s exis�ng reef restora�on projects, and in the longer term to supply restaurants across the world.

Ambi�ons for Wales Na�ve oysters are also being restored to North Wales waters in an ambi�ous project that aims to bring them back from the brink of ex�nc�on in the River Conwy.

Oysters thrived in the local area in the 18th and 19th centuries, forming an important part of the local marine ecosystem. Boats reported landing up to 8,000 shells per day. Since their disappearance, the important role they played in helping to clean the river and act as an important habitat for marine wildlife has been lost.

More than 1,300 oysters have now been suspended beneath pontoons in the Conwy and Deganwy Marinas to create a microhabitat that will act as a maternity ward for the next genera�on of oysters.

They will also act as an outdoor classroom for local schoolchildren, students and ci�zen scien�sts, and provide a window into the ocean to inspire the next genera�on to protect and care for the marine environment The Wild Oysters Project is a partnership between Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Blue Marine Founda�on (BLUE) and Bri�sh Marine. Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences and a local project officer are monitoring progress.

“Conwy Bay is a designated Special Area of Conserva�on, with unique underwater habitats and important marine plants and wildlife. We hope that the project will help to create cleaner water, healthier fisheries and plen�ful marine biodiversity,” Celine Gamble, Wild Oysters Project Manager, ZSL, says.

One billion oysters for New York Across the Atlan�c, the Billion Oyster Project, a ci�zen science project co-ordinated by the New York Harbor School with the goal of restoring one billion live oysters to New York Harbor by 2035, is making good progress. The project already has more than 10,000 volunteers who share the determina�on of the founders, Murray Fisher and Pete Malinowski, to return a healthy, biodiverse harbour to New York. It also aims to engage hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren during its life�me in marine restora�on-based STEM educa�on programmes.

“Restoring oysters to one of the busiest ports in the United States is par�cularly challenging, but we have an amazing team and a dedicated community behind us,” Fisher says. FF

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13/09/2021 15:29:31

USA

BY VINCE MCDONAGH

Open minds

Americans could be ready to give aquaculture a cautious welcome

F

OR a people renowned for enterprise and innova�on, especially in food produc�on, Americans have been surprisingly ambivalent about the benefits of aquaculture.

Alaskans don’t want it in their backyard and the majority of US consumers prefer to eat wild-caught salmon rather than the farmed variety. At best Congress remains lukewarm despite industry pressure.

Ranked at number 17 on a global scale, the United States remains a minor player in aquaculture, preferring to import most of its seafood.

Much of what it produces itself in aquaculture is not finfish such as salmon, but farmed oysters, mussels and clams.

However, according to a recent na�onwide poll conducted by the highly respected Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), US consumers could be ready to embrace more home-grown produc�on.

EDF, which began when an ad hoc group of scien�sts got together in the 1960s to save the osprey from the toxic pes�cide DDT, is now one of the world’s leading environmental organisa�ons. It periodically turns its a�en�on to various aspects of American life as it affects the natural world.

The poll, conducted by Benenson Strategy Group, surveyed 800 registered voters na�onwide from 9 July to 15 July 2021. The margin of sampling error

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was plus or minus 3.4% at the 95% confidence interval.

EDF says the poll included registered voters “because they elect the decision-makers on these issues and tend to be the main focus for Congress and state legislatures across the country.”

Nearly 70% of the respondents who eat seafood were concerned about where it originates. Nearly 90% of voters were in favour of increasing regula�on, se�ng higher standards for seafood, making seafood more sustainable for the long term and reducing the environmental harms that can result from fish farming.

About 73% said they were likely to eat more seafood if it was raised or caught in the US and 71% were likely to increase their consump�on if it came from sources proven to be sustainable.

The Environmental Defence Fund says Americans import more than 85% of all the seafood they eat, of which more than half is farmed. It o�en comes from countries that lack strong standards for safety, environmental protec�on and other issues, which probably goes unno�ced by many consumers.

The poll did raise serious concerns about foreign

Left: Fish farmer Below left: Pacific white shrimp Below: Cascade Locks Hatchery, Oregon Opposite from top: Fish farmer checks tank; a seafood feast; Fish Springs Hatchery, California

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 15:34:09

Open minds

aquaculture, especially around reports of overcrowded fish pens and the overuse of an�bio�cs, with 55% saying they were very worried.

The public also expressed concerns about domes�c aquaculture for some of the same reasons, including the perceived threat to oceans and the livelihoods of conven�onal fishermen. Then there is the growth in offshore aquaculture where farms are posi�oned in deeper and less-sheltered waters with stronger ocean currents. This is now a common prac�ce in countries outside of the US, par�cularly Norway.

But the most interes�ng result from the survey is that most Americans are not intrinsically an�-fish farming with 84% saying they would support the prac�ce provided it was properly regulated.

Seven out of 10 polled said they would eat more fish if it had been caught or farmed in US waters, where they believed environmental, safety and welfare standards were generally higher than in many parts of the world.

EDF says: “Over seven in 10 American voters would eat more seafood if there were higher safety standards on how farmed fish are produced. Voters have concerns about the health and environmental impacts of both foreign and domes�c aquaculture.

“Voters want more consumer protec�ons and stronger regula�ons on farmed fish sold in the US, and more seafood raised here using those higher standards.

“There is strong support for a proposal to ‘first examine the risks and opportuni�es of fish farming in US federal waters, before se�ng high standards and regula�on for safe and sustainable aquaculture’.”

Those polled rejected extreme stances on both sides of the aquaculture debate, with the overwhelming majority preferring the proposal above to either immediately opening federal waters or forever keeping them closed to aquaculture.

The report concludes: “Across the country and par�san lines, Americans believe fish farming in US federal waters needs to be done right – that means taking the �me to research the benefits

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Regional variations The EDF poll threw up a few regional differences. In Florida seven in 10 people said they would eat more farmed seafood if it came from sustainable sources, while over in California the figure was four out of five.

Florida residents wanted be�er consumer protec�on and stronger farmed fish regula�ons, while Californians were more concerned about health and the environment.

and risks so we can develop high standards that keep Americans healthy and our environment safe.

“When presented with compe�ng arguments from both the le� and the right, a strong majority of voters side with an approach to aquaculture that keeps our environment safe, while offering benefits to the economy.”

The majority said huge “factory” fish farms should never be built in US waters, claiming that industrial aquaculture dumps fish waste and an�bio�cs into the seas and makes climate change worse. Industrial fish farming also threatened fishermen’s livelihoods and coastal economies.

When carried out correctly, EDF says, fish farming is the most environmentally friendly and low-carbon way to produce not just seafood, but any animal protein for human consump�on, and it creates a sustainable seafood supply to feed the country and the world.

And this view was held by 62% of people surveyed, who also said US federal waters should be opened immediately to private companies. Not only would that create thousands of jobs, but it would also secure the na�on’s food supply.

Eric Schwaab, Senior Vice-President for ecosystems and oceans at EDF, says: “Americans value local seafood and want to know that the fish they eat is caught or raised safely and sustainably.

“As aquaculture is increasingly a part of our seafood choices, special efforts are needed to get aquaculture right. By developing a new na�onal standard, the United States can lead the way in ensuring that we meet consumer demand and grow local business while also reducing the environmental footprint of food produc�on.”

Find out more about the Environmental Defence Fund at www.edf.org FF

in 10 American voters would “eatSeven more seafood if there were higher safety standards ”

Industry pressure Earlier this year the seafood pressure group Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) called on the US Congress to offer stronger support to the aquaculture sector. SATS said aquaculture was essen�al to the US economy and could strengthen food security and create stronger communi�es through the crea�on of jobs. Poli�cal progress, however, remains slow.

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13/09/2021 15:34:57

Feed

The right kind of fat Omega-3 oils really do make a difference in salmon feed, research has shown

BY VINCE MCDONAGH

N

EW research by Nofima, Norway’s highly respected Food Research Institute, has confirmed that increased levels of omega-3 in salmon feed can lead to healthier and stronger fish.

Fish with more omega-3 in their diet are also better able to cope with challenges such as stress and infection, which is especially important during the sea phase of their life cycle.

Scientists at the organisation have carried a recent detailed study into the content of feed and how it impacts on salmon.

They found that limited access to fishmeal and fish oil for use in salmon feed means that some ingredients have been replaced by plant-based raw materials, leading to a lower content of marine omega-3. This, the study found, has changed the fatty acid composition in the salmons’ tissue and organs.

The study has been supported financially by FHF, the Norwegian fisheries and aquaculture research fund, and led by Nofima’s “OptiHealth” programme researchers. They looked closely at the salmons’ need for omega-3 fatty acids and asked whether there is a need to change recommendations regarding feed composition.

FHF says salmon today are exposed to more handling and challenging environmental conditions, adding that fat levels and specific fatty acids play key a role in many biological functions. This means that if the composition of the fat in feed is altered, it can affect both growth, muscle quality and the health and robustness of fish.

Different diets were tested throughout the project. Salmon were given

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“ersResearchand the

industry have received the instruments they need to develop the feed of the future

”

feed in which the amount of omega-3 (ie EPA and DHA) varied from 1% to 3.5%. The highest level corresponded to a diet with about 50% fish oil.

“Overall, the results showed that the higher the omega-3, the better the salmon performed in every way,” FHF declares.

The fish showed signs of improved disease resistance and lower mortality. And they had fewer melanin spots, improved muscle quality and better growth, at least in their sea phase.

The results also showed, however, that feeding salmon with a vegetable-oil-rich diet delivered improved growth in the freshwater phase, although it did not make the fish better equipped for the seawater cycle.

It poses the question: “Can adjustments in the feed recipe in the freshwater phase make the fish better able to withstand the seawater release?”

Norwegian fish farms generally suffer a loss of around 16-17% in the sea phase, with a large proportion occurring immediately after the transfer.

A project led by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research has tested different feed recipes in the freshwater phase and studied how salmon

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13/09/2021 15:46:46

The right kind of fat

MINISTER OPENS “WORLD CLASS” FISH FEED RESEARCH CENTRE NOFIMA’s reputa�on as a global leader in aquaculture research received a major boost last month with the opening of its new Aquafeed Technology Centre by Norway’s Fisheries Minister, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen.

Scien�sts at the £3m centre say it will enable them to work together on one of their main objec�ves: developing more environmentally friendly fish feed. With more than 70%of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the salmon sector coming from fish feed, it makes the task all the more urgent. “Today, researchers and the industry have received the instruments they need to develop the feed of the future,” said Ingebrigtsen before cu�ng the ribbon.

He made it clear that the work conducted at the centre has been based on open research. This means that all industry players will have access to the results and therefore the pace of innova�on can be increased.

Top: Nofima feed technology centre Top right: Fish feed Above: Bente Ruyter

handles the transi�on into the sea. One of the recipes was close to commercial quality, while others had adjusted levels of amino acids, omega-3, minerals and salts in various combina�ons.

None of the adjusted recipes had an effect on robustness, survival or growth when compared to the commercial-quality feed.

The researchers think this may indicate that the freshwater feed already on the market today covers a salmon’s nutri�onal needs in this phase of its life.

The content of the long-chain fa�y acids is o�en stated as the sum of EPA + DHA, without men�oning the ra�o between the two fa�y acids, but it has long been thought that DHA is the more essen�al.

But FHF says another experiment, led by the Ins�tute of Marine Research, has shown that EPA has a unique and special role in the immune system of Atlan�c salmon, especially when they are exposed to viral infec�on.

The reason for this study is because there is the poten�al to add a lot more DHA and less EPA to some feeds. It is important to find out whether it would be sufficient to add DHA from these sources or whether a small propor�on of EPA could have unforeseen consequences. While the studies were not carried out on live fish, they did show that EPA is very important for salmon.

A high level of marine omega-3 in a fish’s diet is likely to improve its quality, FHF maintains, and this was most evident in the sea phase.

It also turns out that when it comes to maintaining fish health, quality and welfare, salmon have a greater need for essen�al fa�y acids than was thought only a few years ago.

As supplies of fishmeal and fish oils are limited, however, the study concludes, the industry should look for alterna�ve sources of omega-3 that are rich in both DHA and EPA. These sources could include yeast, microalgae, krill or gene�cally modified plants.

Bente Ruyter, a senior researcher at Nofima, believes that in the future the industry will be able to find a number of addi�onal sources.

She adds: “We know that the feed industry is already well under way with this job and has included the results of these studies in their new feed recipes. In fact, the omega-3 levels in feed are now higher than when we did our studies.” FF

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Feed-final.indd 39

He added: “This world-class centre is the result of targeted investment over many years. The centre will be made accessible to researchers from all countries Research Director Mari Moren at Nofima is pleased with all the ini�a�ves, but was clear in her message: “It is not as simple as just removing soy and then adding a new raw material.”

She explained: “Firstly, research must be conducted on the suitability of raw materials in the feed pellet, because feed produc�on is rather complex. We have to start in the right place. Sustainable raw materials must first be processed in the correct manner before they can be used in salmon feed. Once this is in place, suppliers can start large-scale produc�on.”

Above: Mari Moren

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13/09/2021 15:47:33

Aquaculture Europe 2021

Oceans of

opportunity Meet the keynote speakers from the upcoming EA2021 conference in Funchal

A

s in-person events tenta�vely resume a�er a year and a half of Covid-19 restric�ons, one of Europe’s biggest gatherings in the aquaculture sector will be taking place in Madeira next month.

With the theme “Oceans of Opportunity”, the European Aquacultural Society will be presen�ng Aquaculture Europe 2021 in Funchal, Madeira, on 4–7 October.

The event includes presenta�ons on the latest thinking and research in aquaculture, both in person and online by “eposters”; an interna�onal trade exhibi�on, industry forums, student sessions and ac�vi�es, and updates on research commissioned by the European Union.

Last year’s event, due to be held in Cork, was first postponed to earlier this year and then switched to an en�rely online format (see report of the conference in Fish Farmer May 2021). Travel restric�ons around Europe have now eased somewhat and the organisers and the regional government in Madeira are confident that, with health measures in place, the event can take place safely this �me.

The conference features presenta�ons on a wide range of topics ranging from fish welfare and nutri�on requirements to the impact of climate change and the use of ar�ficial intelligence.

There will also be plenary sessions with speakers presen�ng different perspec�ves on the future of aquaculture. The plenary sessions will be presented

by Dr Shakuntala Thilsted of WorldFish; Pedro Encarnação of Jerónimo Mar�ns Agri-business; and Dr Gesche Krause and Laurie Hofmann of the Alfred Wegener Ins�tute.

Dr Thilsted is the Global Lead for Nutri�on and Public Health at WorldFish, an en�ty which is now part of CGIAR (the Consulta�ve Group on Interna�onal Agricultural Research).

She was awarded the 2021 World Food Prize for her ground-breaking research, cri�cal insights and landmark innova�ons in developing holis�c, nutri�on-sensi�ve approaches to aqua�c food systems, including aquaculture and capture fisheries. She played a key role in the development of the WorldFish 2030 research and innova�on strategy – Aqua�c Foods for Healthy People and Planet – and she is a member of the Steering Commi�ee of the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutri�on (HLPE) of the United Na�ons Commi�ee on World Food Security.

She normally works a lot of the �me in Bangladesh and other countries in Asia and Africa with rich aqua�c resources but when Fish Farmer spoke to her she was at her home base in Denmark.

Dr Thilsted will be speaking on “Diversifica�on of aqua�c food systems:

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Oceans of Opportunity for nourishing na�ons.”

Aqua�c food systems provide food and livelihood opportuni�es to over three billion people in the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. While the systems con�nue to grow, studies indicate that we have yet to maximise the reach of aqua�c foods and transforma�on of the systems towards being equitable and sustainable for nourishing people, na�ons and our planet.

Dr Thilsted is calling for a “paradigm shi� ” in thinking to enable the op�misa�on of aqua�c foods and food systems towards fulfilling food and nutri�on security, enhance supply chains, ensure equitable access for women and youth, and improve economy and livelihoods of actors in the aqua�c food systems framework.

She says: “We want to change the narra�ve from ‘feeding’ to ‘nourishing’. It’s not just about quan�ty, but about quality and quan�ty.”

She also emphasises that increasing the supply of food for a growing popula�on does not only mean increasing produc�on, but also reducing waste – as much as a third of perishable food produced is wasted during produc�on, storage and transporta�on.

Dr Thilsted has been working with polyculture systems in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia, as well as projects in Africa, par�cularly looking at ways to improve the produc�vity and nutri�onal quality of small

Above left: Dr Shakuntala Thilsted Left: Pedro Encarnação Top right: Panoramic view over Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal

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13/09/2021 17:58:40

Oceans of opportunity

homestead ponds.

Local people are farming a diverse range of species, she stresses, including many species that are typically smaller than the fish that tend to be farmed commercially at scale.

A key aspect, she adds, is diversity of production systems in aquaculture. Seaweed, for example, can be a great source of nutrition – for example, vitamin B12.

She would like to see the big commercial producers applying their expertise in aquaculture to promote the production of smaller, more diverse species around the world.

Dr Thilsted stresses: “We need to see a shift from monoculture towards a greater diversity of foods, and we need to use traditional knowledge, combined with new technologies. They

“

We want to change the narrative from ‘feeding’ to ‘nourishing

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”

must be complementary.”

Pedro Encarnação is Director of Aquaculture with the Jerónimo Martins Agri-business (JMA), Portugal, and he will be talking about his company’s vertical integration model.

Encarnação is an aquaculture expert with extensive experience around the world. He has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and a PhD in fish nutrition. In 2005, he moved to Asia as Technical director for Biomin (Biotech in animal nutrition). After 10 years in Asia, he returned to Portugal to join the Jerónimo Martins Agri-Business division as its Aquaculture Director to develop the group expansion in this new area.

JMA currently farms seabass and sea bream. It is part of the Jerónimo Martins retail group, one of the biggest food retailers in Portugal.

As Encarnação explains: “Our vertical integration model is based on a close partnership with Jerónimo Martins’ retail companies to create value in the quality, stability and consistency of supplied products. Also, it is our goal to stimulate innovation and production development of the target species that are adapted to consumer preference.

“We can say this is a different model, since in the locations JMA operates most fish farmers are of small scale and don’t have the capacity to guarantee a regular supply to the larger retailers, so their commercial channels are different, supplying to many intermediaries and focusing on the food and beverages market.”

The key message of his presentation will be that JMA’s integrated model brings production closer to customers’ needs and expectations. Reducing

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Aquaculture Europe 2021

“So, for example, we’ve looked at aquaculture and its rela�on to the UN sustainable development goals, such as access to housing, popula�on dynamics, employment and employment sa�sfac�on.”

One example she gives is small, family-owned mussel farms in Scotland. The economic impact of a single farm may not be that great, but its importance in terms of social cohesion and cultural iden�ty for the local community may be much more than that.

As Dr Krause puts it: “They have a central role, because they reflect a lot about wellbeing, cultural place iden�ty and connec�ng people to the nature of the place where they are.”

On the other hand, she argues, a large salmon farm may be part of a larger corporate en�ty, but its impact on the community may also be significant in terms of crea�ng jobs, genera�ng tax revenues and helping to support the local community in a number of ways, such as access supply chains leads to fewer engagements, shorter distances to transport to healthcare.

She says: “So there is a trade-off. You can’t say fish, greater quality control and food safety, and even more shelf �me, one is good, or less good, especially in regard increasing the period of sale of the product and reducing food waste.

Sustainability is also a key issue for JMA. Encarnação says: “Each project to, good for whom? We aim to help decision-makers navigate their way through we develop takes into account sustainability criteria supported by the these complex issues. best prac�ces and principles of the EU´s Farm to Fork strategy and “It is not my role to define the answer, but other ESG criteria. We have established collabora�on with the na�onal to look at the process between science and scien�fic network – namely, the Academia – for the op�misa�on of the society, in a way which is meaningful and produc�on of the target species, as well as establishing integrathelpful.” ed environmental analysis models, as a vital component to Dr Krause believes that op�mise produc�on efficiency in offshore aquaculture society has some difficult and to reduce economic and environmental risks. future choices to make and “In our projects we have done environmental asthat focusing solely on sessments of the impact of our ac�vi�es. All reports economic growth would have indicated no impact of our opera�ons in water be a mistake. Issues such quality and the surrounding environment. Furtheras the environment and more, we work with our feed suppliers to guaransocial equity must not be tee that all ingredients used are from sustainable overlooked. origins, therefore reducing, for example, the risk of As she puts it: “We need deforesta�on associated with soy present in animal to be honest with ourselves feed, that their fish in fish out ra�o is maintained at a about where we want to go, low level and that their feeds have a high feed efficiency and what we want to transform [low feed conversion ra�o] in order to guarantee the sustaininto. There is a lot of pressure on the ability of our produc�on. tradi�onal Western way of look“Finally, great efforts are made in ma�ers such as reing at these ma�ers; to revisit duc�on of energy and fresh water consump�on as well assump�ons, and modes of as residue management in our opera�ons.” produc�on in the wake of Dr Gesche Krause will be co-presen�ng on Thursday climate change.” with her colleague Dr Laurie Hofman, a marine biolThere will certainly be ogist. They have been working together, par�cularly plenty of food for thought on issues around cul�va�ng macroalgae for a range ahead for those a�ending of uses including alterna�ve packaging for fresh in Madeira this October. food, at the Alfred Wegener Ins�tute Helmholtz AE2021 Oceans of OpporCentre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germatunity runs from 4-7 October ny’s biggest academic research ins�tu�on focused on in Funchal, Madeira. It is organmarine and polar science. ised by the European Aquaculture As a social scien�st, Dr Krause is in the minority among Society and supported by the Regional her natural sciences colleagues. She explains: “My discipline is Government of Madeira, the Government of social economics and governance, especially as regards how aquaculture affects Portugal and technology agency Ardi�. For more informa�on, go online to social and economic sustainability dimensions on mul�ple levels, and www.aquaeas.org. FF how governance affects socioeconomic outcomes.

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We “ need to be

honest with ourselves about where we want to go

”

From the top: Old Town street of Funchal - capital of Madeira Island, Portugal; Gesche Krause; Laurie Hofmann

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Careers in Aquaculture

A wealth of opportunity There has never been a better time to embark on a career in aquaculture. The “blue economy” is set for an exciting period of growth over the next few decades, and in this special feature for Fish Farmer, some of the leading operators set out the wide range of employment opportunities that it offers. From farm staff on marine sites to fish health experts and processing specialists, there are good prospects for career development, open to school leavers and post-graduates alike.

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Excellent

CSAR – client content

opportunities Swansea University delivers excellence in aquaculture education, research and innovation

£3.3m “Our facilities

include a state-of-theart suite of 16 RAS and some of the largest Algal Biotech facilities among HEIs in the UK

”

A

quaculture offers an incredibly diverse job opportunity. If you are a student just starting, changing careers, or wish to upskill your competences then the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR) at Swansea University can help you out.

Our £3.3m facilities include a state-of-the-art suite of 16 RAS and some of the largest Algal Biotech facilities among HEIs (higher education institutions) in the UK.We focus on welfare, behaviour, conservation, and sustainability, and work with over 35 species of aquatic organisms, including fish, algae and shellfish.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate Aquaculture & Fisheries courses offer students the possibility of working on a commercial grade recirculating aquaculture system and carry out their own aquaculture projects. As an aquaculture student at Swansea University, you will benefit from opportunities to collaborate with commercial sponsors, including a year in industry.We also offer internship opportunities and support the organization of events, such as the first and second symposia on Welfare in Aquaculture.

At CSAR you will benefit from a supportive team of experienced lecturers, researchers and aquaculture

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specialists that will open new career opportunities.

You will join a dynamic team committed to innovation and research excellence: for example, we grow microalgae used in biomedical research, to produce biofuels, and more nutritious aquafeeds; we use zebrafish and killifish for translational research into human diseases; we culture native cleaner fish to control sea lice and support the salmon industry and are leading the precision aquaculture and biophilic movement in Wales through the use of novel sensors and large-scale aquaponics.

Learn more: CSAR on YouTube bit.ly/CSAR_ACE; Symposia on Welfare in Aquaculture www. welfareaquaculture.com/ Get in touch: Paul Howes: p.n.howes@swansea. ac.uk. FF

Above: Site map of CSAR main laboratories including RAS systems to grown and maintain a variety of aquatic organisms.

Left: Pictures showcasing our facilities and some emblematic species.

From top left: lumpfish; tilapia; aquaponics building; RAS B; Innovation laboratory with top view of tilapia tank; Twin RAS; C4 Algae laboratory showing microalgae production; close up of killifish; close up of zebrafish.

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13/09/2021 16:40:22

The Scottish Salmon Company – Client content

The Scottish Salmon Company takes giant leap forward SSC growth plan backed by investment in skills

A

t The Sco�sh Salmon Company (SSC), people are the heart of the business and fundamental to producing healthy, quality Sco�sh Salmon. The company employs more than 600 people across more than 60 sites situated on the West Coast and Hebrides. Testament to the company’s culture, it employs several genera�ons of the same families, and its Long Service Awards are never short of winners, highligh�ng the long-term career opportuni�es available.

Debra Nichol-Storie, HR Director at SSC says: “We have ambi�ous plans to bolster our Sco�sh opera�ons and con�nued investment will be focused on our people.

“Our sustainable development strategy is underpinned by a significant investment plan over the next five years, including our commitment to incorporate industry leading Recircula�ng Aquaculture Systems (RAS) technology across all our freshwater produc�on.”

SSC strives for con�nuous development and career progression for all its employees.

Its industry-leading Competency Framework is based on Na�onal Occupa�onal Standards and sets out comprehensive guidelines for assessing and developing employees across all levels, providing a clear career path for progression aligned with relevant training for every member of the team.

SSC is proud to invest in Modern Appren�ces, offering more than 20

appren�ceships currently across the business – a springboard to a skilled career.

SSC is engaged in all stages of the value chain from freshwater and marine farming to processing and sales, not only ensuring supply chain integrity but crea�ng a diverse range of career opportuni�es. Read on to hear from some of the team across the value chain.

For more information on the diverse range of career opportunities at SCC visit www.scottishsalmon.com/workwithus FF

Our sustainable development “ strategy is underpinned by a significant investment plan over the next five years

”

FRESHWATER

Claire Preston, Freshwater Assistant Manager at SSC’s state of the art Applecross RAS Unit in Wester Ross, started working in aquaculture by chance, entering the industry without previous experience and working her way up the career ladder through SSC’s Competency Framework.

Claire says: “I didn’t think I would qualify for a job in aquaculture without relevant experience, but here I am 14 years later!

“There are great training and development opportuni�es at SSC, I’ve completed SVQ Levels 2 and 3 in Aquaculture and I’m looking into doing Level 4 soon. I was also proud to be shortlisted for a Lantra Award.

“We’re star�ng a new chapter at Applecross with the investment in industry leading RAS technology, so it’s great to see everyone working together on this. Producing our quality smolts makes me proud.”

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The Scottish Salmon Company takes giant leap forward

MARINE

James Ronald, Marine Site Manager at Upper Loch Fyne in Argyll, joined SSC 16 years ago as a Harvest Opera�ve, when he was 18 years old, and has progressed through all levels of the marine department.

James says: “Aquaculture is a great industry with a number of opportuni�es to further your career and take it as far as you want.

“I’ve received lots of training through my years with SSC, including advanced powerboat, sea crane, forkli�, first aid and my SVQ Level 4 in Aquaculture.

“The best thing about the job is being able to nurture our smolts through to harvest, producing the finest quality Sco�sh Salmon for customers around the world that have been reared in my local waters of Loch Fyne.”

HARVESTING

Paul Marre�, Senior Harvest Opera�ve in Ardyne, Argyll and his wife both work at SSC. He began working in the harvest sta�on and gradually took on more responsibili�es, progressing to a senior level.

Paul said: “I’ve always been interested in the industry because of its value to our local community. Along with working in a close-knit team, the opportuni�es to progress and benefits are the best things about my job.

“I chose nightshi�s to suit my family as it allows my wife and I to both work.

“I start my day with a team mee�ng. We discuss our plans and progress so far. I ensure the tankers are prepped to transport our fish for processing by taking swabs and samples and sending them to our processing plant at Cairndow.

“The team is me�culous – once the tankers are filled, we have the water from the harvest opera�on upli�ed and we clean the site down, ensuring the sta�on is ready for the next harvest.”

PROCESSING

Ellie-Faye Longstaff, Fille�ng Team Leader in Marybank, Stornoway has worked with SSC for seven years, along with family members. She started working on the fille�ng line and was promoted four years ago, and now supports the Supervisor in leading a team of 26.

Ellie says: “My day-to-day work is varied, including quality control and packing orders to be sent to customers around the world.

“SSC has invested in my development over the years.

I’ve completed a SVQ Level 2 in Food and Drink and plan to do my Level 3 soon. I’ve also received training in health and safety, food hygiene and manual handling which is key to doing my job well.

“I’d encourage others to consider a career in aquaculture as it’s an interes�ng industry and at SSC there are lots of opportuni�es to progress and learn different skills, and you meet a lot of great people, which is the best part of my job.”

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

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10 reasons to start your career at Scottish Sea Farms Finding a company that’s the right fit for you is the first step to a happy career. Here are just some of the reasons to choose Scottish Sea Farms.

1

It’s an opportunity to make a positive impact.

With the world’s population estimated to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the race is on to produce enough food to ensure no-one goes hungry. Farmland is already under pressure, so too are wild fish stocks, which is why more and more people are looking to farmed fish as part of the solution. One of the country’s leading salmon farmers, Scottish Sea Farms provided the equivalent of 98.7 million meals in 2020 – with a growing team, we’re hoping to provide even more.

2

Sustainability is key.

Like many food producers, we’re working hard to minimise any impact from our activities on the environment: from reducing the use of polystyrene and re-purposing fish waste, to trialling greener energies and installing electric vehicle charging points at each of our mainland hubs.

3

There are more careers than you think.

Think salmon farming is simply about, well, farming? Think again.

There are more than 50 different roles within Scottish Sea Farms, across 15 departments. Everything from environment, engineering and IT to quality control, processing, sales, and supply.

Scottish Sea Farms Ltd.indd 48

4

There are different pathways into the company.

Perhaps you’re a school-leaver with no previous experience of salmon farming. Or maybe you’re a graduate with a relevant degree, MSc or PhD. We welcome applicants from all ages and life stages, including those looking to switch sectors or return to work after a career break.

5

We’ll help you learn and develop.

Landing the job is just the start of your career journey with Scottish Sea Farms. You’ll find plenty of opportunities to learn, develop and thrive: from on-the-job training, online courses and Modern Apprenticeships, to one-to-one coaching or tailored support for those transitioning to a supervisory role.

6

There’s plenty of scope to advance further.

Big ambitions to become a senior manager one day? There are several schemes that could help you get there, including our own in-house Management Academy and various programmes run by our partners, the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre.

7

We’re an increasingly diverse team.

We want to attract – and retain – the best people for the job. It’s why we introduced our Young People’s Council

to help ensure that the third of our workforce aged 28 or under have their voices heard when it comes to how the Scottish Sea Farms of the future could and should look.

8

Our policies are more family friendly.

9

We care about your wellbeing.

Think you’d like to start a family one day? Then maternity and paternity pay is something worth considering when comparing employers.

Scottish Sea Farms offers enhanced packages for working parents with one or more years’ service, helping make life that little bit easier.

From a cycle to work scheme, discounted gym membership and My Healthy Advantage app, to an appointment with our company nurse – you’ll have access to all this and more, thanks to our programme of employee health and wellbeing benefits.

10

We don’t just say it, we mean it.

Our ongoing investment in jobs, training and employee wellbeing has recently been accredited with three prestigious Investors in People Awards. Seen as the global benchmark in people management, the awards are your guarantee that when we say we invest in our people, we mean it.

13/09/2021 16:36:34

FRESHWATER

HUSBANDRY ENVIRONMENT

ENGINEERING PROCESSING

SUPPLY

Grow your career with us.

To find out more about the range of careers available, contact recruitment@scottishseafarms.com. Or for the latest vacancies, including trainee roles, visit scottishseafarms.com

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13/09/2021 16:37:07

Aqua Nor 2021

Face to face – at last!

The industry’s biggest trade show has a new, hybrid format

L

ike so many events this year, the Aqua Nor trade show in Trondheim this year nearly didn’t happen – and when it did it was in a different format, adap�ng to the condi�ons of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the rules changed again even during the week of the event, with Trondheim municipality manda�ng the use of face masks indoors on the last day.

Despite all that it has been hailed a success, with a great turnout for the physical exhibi�on and a new digital pla�orm that brought Trondheim to the people who were not able to be there in person.

Kris�an Digre, General Manager of the Nor-Fishing Founda�on, which manages Aqua Nor, said: “The number of �ckets that have been sold is a record. Exhibitors at the physical exhibi�on say it has been a huge success and there have been more contracts signed than ever!”

This year’s show ran in a hybrid format, with a physical exhibi�on once again in Trondheim’s Spektrum centre, and a live streaming channel broadcas�ng events and presenta�ons to a remote audience.

The online show, using the Expobo digital pla�orm, also hosted digital “stands” and included a facility for virtual mee�ngs during the exhibi�on.

The hybrid format has also extended the life of the event, allowing digital a�endees to catch up with recorded presenta�ons and webinars. The pla�orm – which will be live for 12 months – can also be used for online follow-up mee�ngs with exhibitors and visitors.

The winner of the award for best physical stand, as chosen by the Aqua Nor commi�ee, was fish handling and delicing specialist Op�mar. The judges described the stand as “a real eye-catcher, with superb design”. It also had its own private mee�ng room and a dedicated barista. Shortlisted for the award were Salt Ship Design and S�m.

Monitoring and biomass measurement business OptoScale AS was judged to have the best digital stand, bea�ng a shortlist of Laboly�c AS, Atlan�c Canada, Benchmark and MSD Animal Health.

Digre said that the organisers may be running some more live streams or webinars through the rest of the year, using the Aqua Nor pla�orm, adding: “It will be a hybrid exhibi�on for the years to come. It is more valuable for exhibitors and visitors – both formats are here to stay!”

Lars Gellein Halvorsen, Project Manager at aquaculture technology group

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AquaNor-INTRO-final.indd 52

Alvestad Marin, said: “It was great to see so many people with similar interests coming together and a real sign of op�mism... it was good to see people face to face again.”

Aquaculture technology company Ace Aquatec was represented at the show in person by its Norway-based team, including Preben Imset Matre, Regional Manager, Northern Europe.

He said: “Aqua Nor is something we’ve all been looking forward to ... we’ve been able to meet people we’ve not seen in a long �me, but also had the opportunity to see people we’ve only had online rela�onships with. In-person events give and take a lot of energy that you forget when in lockdown, but there’s a real appeal to interac�ng, se�ng up base and sharing what Ace Aquatec has been up to.

“Collec�vely as an industry, I’m hoping this marks the first of many more in-person events to come.”

For many companies based outside Norway, however, Aqua Nor 2021 was an all-digital affair.

Marc Wilson, Group Marke�ng Manager at technology and aquaculture services group Gael Force, said: “While it was no match for exhibi�ng physically and mee�ng up in person, it was useful to remain involved in Aqua Nor from afar. The digital

It was great to see so many people “ with similar interests coming together ”

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13/09/2021 16:50:17

Face to face – at last!

AQUA NOR IN NUMBERS

 In-person visitors at Trondheim Spektrum: 16,652  Joined live stream events: 9,150  Logged into digital pla�orm: 8,232  Joined digital live chats: 1,200

Source: Nor-Fishing Founda�on

Aquaculture technology business SeaRAS was declared as the winner of the prestigious Aqua Nor Innovation Award.

Above: Scenes from a busy Aqua Nor

community that was built up though the pla�orm was excellent and there was definitely a higher level of professionalism and presenta�on during the live streaming.”

He added: “There was a strong feeling of community around the exhibi�on… hybrid exhibi�ons appear to be the way ahead.”

At Aqua Nor 2019 Team Scotland – Sco�sh Development Interna�onal (SDI), Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Sco�sh Aquaculture Innova�on Centre and Marine Scotland – co-ordinated a workshop to highlight supply chain businesses based in Scotland. This year, SDI had a digital stand to promote Sco�sh business, supported by SAIC and HIE colleagues.

Iain Sutherland, Senior Development Manager, Food and Drink at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, worked with SDI on Aqua Nor 2021. He says: “The virtual show was very impressive, even if not as effec�ve as a face-to-face event would have been. There was a lot of traffic for the stand and we did get a number of enquiries.”

He added that SDI and HIE are looking ahead to Aqua Nor 2023 and preparing their case for the return of a Sco�sh Pavilion.

Breeding, gene�cs and animal health specialist Benchmark Group had staff present at the show, but opted for a digital-only stand, which was shortlisted as one of the five best digital stands by the Aqua Nor commi�ee.

Marke�ng Director Birgi�e Sorheim told Fish Farmer: “We also had two mee�ng rooms at the venue in Trondheim where our commercial team met up with customers. This worked very well and was an efficient way to combine physical and digital presence without taking high risk of eventually any sudden lockdowns or Covid restric�ons.”

She added: “The feedback from my team was that it was great to meet customers and prospects in person. We even signed a contract with a new customer at the event!”

While the “digital foo�all” for Benchmark was good, with 700 online visitors, Sorheim believes there is no subs�tute for an in-person trade show. FF

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AquaNor-INTRO-final.indd 53

THE prize was presented by Norway’s Fisheries Minister, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, to SeaRAS General Manager Eldar Lien at the opening of this year’s Aqua Nor trade show in Trondheim.

Bergen-based company SeaRAS won its award for Aquasense, a new method for measuring and monitoring water parameters and especially H2S – otherwise known as hydrogen sulphide – at low levels in fish farms and tanks in wellboats.

H2S is a major threat for fish farming and recircula�ng aquaculture systems (RAS) in par�cular.

The SeaRAS system is capable of monitoring H2S down to a very low level, 0.1µg/L (micrograms per litre), with an alarm triggered when the level of H2S reaches a given level. The system is already installed in many RAS farms and is also used in some wellboats to control levels of H2S in tanks before live fish are pumped on board and during transport/treatment.

Two other companies were shortlisted for the Innova�on Award: Portugal’s NORAS Global, which has developed U Safe, a remotely controlled lifebuoy for lifesaving in the case of person overboard incidents; and VAKI, part of the MSD Animal Health group, for its Density Control system, which – as part of the VAKI SmartFlow system, monitors, controls and automates fish density to maximise fish welfare, and to enhance grading, vaccina�on and coun�ng.

Above: Ingebrigtsen (L) with Eldar Lien

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13/09/2021 16:50:47

Aqua Nor 2021

Deal makers This year’s show saw some important contracts signed

A

qua Nor provides an ideal opportunity for industry players to meet and do deals. This year’s show saw Benchmark Gene�cs and MMC First Process each finalise agreements with their aquaculture customers.

Benchmark concluded an agreement with land-based salmon producer Premium Svensk Lax to supply eggs for a new RAS farm in Sweden.

The Premium Svensk site at Säffle, Värmland, is currently under construc�on and, when completed, will have an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes. It is expected to start full-scale produc�on in 2024.

Benchmark, as the sole supplier, will provide gene�cs from its biosecurity facili�es in Iceland for a three-year period, with an op�on for another two years.

The deal was signed by Morten Malle, CEO of Premium Svensk Lax, and Jan-Emil Johannessen, Head of Benchmark Gene�cs.

Malle said: “We are working on the groundwork of the plant in Säffle and the plan is that we will introduce the first eggs in the hatchery in early 2023. Our goal is to bring locally produced, sustainable and healthy

From the top: Morten Malle (R) and Jan Emil Johannessen signing; The Säffle site; CEO Pe�er Fauske (L) and CSO Frank Vike from MMC First Process

premium salmon to the Swedish market. Then we must also be sure that the gene�cs we put into the plant come from a quality producer that also has a focus on sustainability and biosecurity. I believe we found those quali�es in Benchmark Gene�cs.”

Geir Olav Melingen, Commercial Director at Benchmark Gene�cs, commented: “The plant now under construc�on in Värmland is based on an exci�ng concept where processing is also an important part of the plans. Sweden is in a unique posi�on, being able to freely export salmon to a number of countries where Norway encounters trade restric�ons. This opens up opportuni�es for a formidable produc�on growth for when Premium Svensk Lax succeeds, and we want to par�cipate in that journey.”

The plant, which can handle processing as well as taking the fish all the way through from hatching to grow-out, is intended to supply 20% of the Swedish market for salmon.

Benchmark has recently signed similar deals with interna�onal land-based fish farmer Pure Salmon and Singapore RAS, which is building a land-based farm in the Far East.

This year’s Aqua Nor also saw MMC First Process signing an agreement to deliver a complete system for fish handling for phase two of the American giant land-based facility Atlan�c Sapphire Bluehouse.

Phase 1 of the Florida-based recircula�ng aquaculture system (RAS) facility is already one of the leading producers in this growing sector.

MMC’s CEO Pe�er Fauske commented: “Although we have several other customers in the US, and on similar projects, there is a high degree of innova�on at the Atlan�c Sapphire plant. If we are to maintain our posi�on as a world leader in our field, we must con�nue to work with the companies that are at the forefront of development – and we are doing this on this project.”

He added: “There are very many who engage in land-based farming here at the fair – and our agreement has created a talking point.” FF

This opens up “ opportuni�es for a

formidable produc�on growth 54

AquaNor deals-final.indd 54

”

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13/09/2021 15:43:37

Aqua Nor 2021

Blue is the new green Seafood can and should be a sustainable resource

A

qua Nor saw some of the industry’s biggest talking points being aired in a series of online debates, webinars and presenta�ons.

Opening the event on Monday, ahead of the trade show’s official start, a high-level panel presented their thoughts on the role of aquaculture in the world economy and, specifically, its poten�al contribu�on to a green future.

The speakers were Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, Ohad Maiman, CEO of the land-based yellowtail producer Kingfish; Pe�er Mar�n Johannessen, Director General of the aquafeed trade body IFFO; and Carlos Duarte, a marine ecologist with the United Na�ons Food and Agricultural Organisa�on.

Brende, a na�ve of Trondheim, said that management of the ocean was integral to tackling global warming and the challenges it posed. This would need knowledge – Brende pointed out that 80% of the ocean has not even been fully explored yet – and innova�ve finance solu�ons. He said: “I am hopeful, because I see progress being made every day.”

Ohad Maiman gave an account of how his business had adapted to Covid-19 condi�ons, during what had been a challenging year for the seafood industry. The Kingfish Company, he said, had successfully pivoted from the hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) market to supplying consumers through retail, and now HoReCa was recovering.

He said: “Wild-caught and tradi�onal aquaculture can be done sustainably, but there is s�ll not enough seafood to meet demand – RAS technology meets this need.”

IFFO’s Pe�er Mar�n Johannessen talked about the future of marine ingredients in aquafeed, no�ng that while total aquafeed produc�on has gone up by more than 300% since 2000, the volume of marine ingredients has remained almost sta�c. The expected increased demand for seafood creates a challenge, he said, and the industry expects that an extra 30 million tonnes of aquafeed per year will be required by 2030.

With alterna�ve sources such as insects or microalgae struggling to upscale, this will not be easy, he said, but the industry is now looking at greater use of marine byproducts as well as new ingredients and mesopelagic species from deeper levels of the ocean than are usually fished. FF

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AquaNor-debates-final.indd 55

“

I am hopeful, because I see progress being made every day

”

Seaborne survivor THURSDAY saw the official christening of the new service boat AQS Tor. Built by Moen Marin for aquaculture services business AQS, the Tor was in the news earlier this year when the cargo ship carrying it to Norway, the Eemslift Hendrika, was wrecked in a storm in the North Sea. The AQS Tor was washed off the Hendrika, but miraculously stayed afloat in the storm.

As the coastguard had to priori�se saving the cargo vessel and its crew – who were fortunately all brought safely back to shore – AQS hired a private salvage crew to secure the service boat.

The christening ceremony took place under calmer condi�ons at Trondheim harbour.

Top left: Børge Brende Top right: Aqua Nor Above: Ohad Maiman

Above: The service boat AQS Tor

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13/09/2021 15:41:58

Aqua Nor 2021

Telling the story Transparency and commitment to action are the ways to win public trust

H

ow can the aquaculture industry improve its image? That was the subject of one of the keynote debates at Aqua Nor 2021.

The online discussion was chaired by Chris Guldberg, Director of Communica�ons and PR at the Norwegian Seafood Council, and the panellists were: Silje Båtsvik Risholm, Senior Adviser, Aquaculture with not-for-profit body the Bellona Founda�on; Øyvind Andre Haram, Head of Communica�ons at the Norwegian Seafood Federa�on; and Dag Sletmo “fish and finance enthusiast” with DNB, one of Scandinavia’s leading banks.

Risholm, who works with industry to encourage more sustainable prac�ces, said that aquaculture did have some environmental ques�ons to which it needs to face up.

She stressed: “To pretend that there are no issues, when clearly there are, does not build trust or confidence.”

Haram agreed that “we have to be more open” but added that the Federa�on’s annual survey suggested that in Norway at least, the public’s a�tude towards the industry was more posi�ve than when polling started 12 years ago.

As Sletmo pointed out, fish farming businesses are now much more likely to have communica�ons professionals on their team and they are be�er at telling their story. He added that the industry needed to focus more on quality, sustainability and selling at a premium price, rather than simply on volume.

Haram referred to the Federa�on’s Seafood 2030 document, which sets out the industry’s sustainability goals. He said: “We are part of the solu�on – and we need to tell people we are part of the solu�on!”

Also the subject of debates at Aqua Nor were:  fish farming and the Norwegian tax regime;  is the future of fish farming land-based, offshore or at sea?  the prospects for cod farming; and

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AquaNor-image-final.indd 56

 is seaweed the answer?

As with previous shows the Research Plaza provided an opportunity to hear from researchers and prac��oners about the latest advances in knowledge for the sector.

Subjects ranged from the polychaetes worm – which loves to eat the sludge from fish farms and can in turn be fed back to the fish as an ingredient in aquafeed – to the welfare of cleaner fish and the use of oceanography to model the poten�al spread of waterborne viruses.

Aquaculture deals with complex, living organisms in natural environments and this creates some of the biggest challenges. As Audun Iversen of Nofima put it: “Biology eats technology for breakfast.”

Throughout the week, students working in the field of aquaculture also gave online presenta�ons, and, as has become a tradi�on at Aqua Nor, the final day of the show was Student Day. This year, nearly 1,000 students had registered, an increase of 40% from previous years. Many followed the Student Day digitally, while the number of students at the physical fair reached maximum capacity.

Subscribers to the digital event can access recorded webinars and debates online over the next 12 months at aquanor.no/en (English) or aquanor.no (Norwegian). FF

“

We are part of the solu�on – and we need to tell people

”

Top, Clockwise, from top left: Chris Guldberg, Silje Båtsvik Risholm, Dag Sletmo and Øyvind Andre Haram Above right: Julie Elise Trovaag, student

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 15:40:18

Aqua Nor 2021

Political dimension Trondheim provided the perfect opportunity for ministers to meet

A

qua Nor 2021 opened with an online address from Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, Co-Chair of the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which has set out an agenda for ac�on backed by the leaders of 14 countries, aimed at preserving the world’s marine resources and helping to tackle climate change.

She paid tribute to the contribu�on made by Norway’s aquaculture sector and the businesses that support it, and said: “Shi�ing to ‘blue food’ has considerable upsides for both human health and that of the planet… my government believes in developing resources, and the seafood industry, with management based on facts and science.”

The world of poli�cs was also represented in person by two fisheries ministers: Norway’s Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen and the UK’s Victoria Pren�s.

The two ministers took the opportunity of their visit to Trondheim to discuss bilateral agreements between the two countries, par�cularly in rela�on to seafood, in the first face-to-face mee�ng they had had with each other a�er many months of nego�a�ons – handled remotely – in the run up to the UK-Norwegian free trade agreement struck earlier this year.

They said Norway and the UK were close neighbours and shared many of the same views on the sustainable management of fish stocks, and they pledged to build on that rela�onship. At the mee�ng, the ministers also discussed the forthcoming requirements for a health cer�ficate when expor�ng seafood from Norway to the UK. Speaking at the opening of Aqua Nor, Victoria Pren�s said this year’s agreement between the UK and Norway had benefited – among others – Norwegian producers and UK-based processors and aquafeed manufacturers.

She noted that Norwegian fish farmers have invested in the salmon industry in Scotland, but added that there are also opportuni�es to invest in aquaculture elsewhere in UK, par�cularly in the seaweed and shellfish sectors in Devon and Cornwall.

Pren�s also met the leaders of Seafood Norway over issues such as future veterinary border controls between the two countries. The Bri�sh Ambassador to Norway, Richard Wood, also took part in the talks.

Pren�s said a�erwards: “It was a pleasure to visit Norway and meet with Minister Ingebrigtsen… While we agree on many issues, there are fisheries management issues where we have differences. However, the strength of our rela�onship means that we can discuss areas of disagreement maturely and construc�vely.

“The UK and Norway have much in common as independent coastal states, and with increased investment in our vibrant aquaculture industries we are both key producers of sustainable seafood.” FF

“

The UK and Norway have much in common

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AquaNor-Ministers-final.indd 57

”

Above: Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen and Victoria Pren�s interviewed Below left: Erna Solberg

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

Amaspleis

The world’s most powerful automatic sewing machine.

We develop and manufacture custom machines for fishery and fish farming. www.amatec.fish

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13/09/2021 15:37:28

Cages, pens, nets and moorings

New beginnings

Aquaculture suppliers are not standing still as cage and pen technology continues to evolve

BY ROBERT OUTRAM

I

t has been a busy few months for news in the world of containment, with new deliveries, corporate �e-ups and updated models about to be unveiled.

In June, aquaculture supplier Gael Force agreed an exclusive deal with net manufacturer Fibras Industriales SA (FISA) to provide nets for fish farming in Scotland. FISA, based in Peru, produces a range of high-quality ne�ng products including supra HDPE high-tenacity containment and predator nets, raschel polyester and nylon containment and protec�on nets, and twisted knotless muketsu nets.

Gael Force will market FISA’s products in Scotland, plus an exclusive new SeaQureNet, manufactured by FISA, which will be a key element of Gael Force’s turnkey offering.

The deal also brings in John Howard of Boris Net, a long-�me partner for FISA in the UK, with extensive experience in aquaculture, who will be working with Gael Force on serving customers.

Meanwhile, Indian-based net and rope manufacturer Garware Technical Fibres announced the appointment of Alan Sutherland as Country Manager, Scotland. He is a well-known figure in the salmon farming sector, with a career including nine years as head of what was then Marine Harvest (now Mowi). More recently, he has been working with the Sco�sh Salmon Company, a customer for Garware’s SealPro range of ne�ng.

Sutherland has also recently joined the board of the Sustainable Aquaculture Innova�on Centre (SAIC). As he puts it: “I’ve always been interested in innova�on.”

A key part of his role with Garware is liaising with customers and other stakeholders on trials of the company’s technology in Scotland, and gathering feedback on the farmers’ needs.

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Legisla�on now limits farmers’ ability to protect against seal preda�on, and Garware’s Sapphire SealPro range of containment ne�ng solu�ons have achieved a market share of more than 75% in the Sco�sh sector.

Garware says the success of SealPro ne�ng is due to its higher mesh breaking strength, s�ffness, enhanced cut resistance and single-sided knots and compact ne�ng structure which leads to be�er condi�ons for salmon, protec�ng them from predators. The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) ne�ng also has a much longer working life than conven�onal nylon.

Sutherland adds: “Farmers’ op�ons are limited and nobody wants an escape. It would be rash not to have the strongest net you can get!

“

It would be rash not to have the strongest net you can get!

”

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13/09/2021 16:43:51

New beginnings

Above left: Atlan�s subsea pen receiving salmon Left: Alan Sutherland, Garware Top right: FishGLOBE under construc�on

“Also, HDPE nets provide good protec�on, but they s�ll need to be cleaned. In the summer, this can be as o�en as every seven days.

We are looking to see how we can minimise that.”

Tradi�onally, copper oxide paint has been used as an an�foulant, but the coa�ng eventually washes off and this can release the material into the marine environment.

Garware’s V2 technology is based on a composite net that incorporates copper nanopar�cles – not oxide. This is longer las�ng and the periods between cleaning can be extended, saving on costs for the farmers and also reducing stress for the fish.

Garware and their exclusive agents in Scotland, W & J Knox, also face s�ff compe��on from other manufacturers serving the aquaculture and fishing industries, such as Norway’s Morenot and Faroes-based Vonin, which has a range of nets and cages designed to take on high-energy sites in the North Atlan�c.

The summer has also seen the delivery of new nets and cages in Scotland and the Faroes. In June, salmon farmer Mowi took delivery of 10 160-metre Polarcirkel pens from AKVA for its farm site at Loch Seaforth on the Isle of Harris.

These are Mowi’s first pens in Scotland to be built on this scale. In addi�on to the 10x 160m pens, AKVA supplied the sites with two new mooring grids, bird nets and fibreglass poles, plus two HDPE nets in partnership with net maker Tufropes.

Don MacLeod, Seaforth site manager with Mowi commented at the �me: “The installa�on of 160 metre pens… are important as we look to raise salmon at exposed loca�ons that offer excellent growing condi�ons but also offer increasing weather challenges from storms. The installa�on of 160 metre net pens and other associated infrastructure supplied by AKVA group will significantly improve our containment systems and safety.

In the Faroes, fish farmer Hidden�ord has placed an order with manufacturer FiiZK for a third semi-closed Certus 15000 cage. Construc�on is already under way for two Certus cages for Hidden�ord.

FiiZK’s semi-closed model is intended to protect the fish from sea lice and shelter them from rough seas. When all three cages are in place, they will provide Hidden�ord with a capacity of 45,000m3.

Construc�on of the first and second cages is taking place in collabora�on with local suppliers, including the MEST shipyard. FiiZK’s Project Manager, Børge Sneisen, says: “This is the same delivery model that we use in Canada and we have great faith in it. Our ambi�on is that all possible produc�on is carried out by local suppliers in all of our projects globally.”

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Cages_final.indd 59

Open net-pens remain the default model for containment, but there is increasing investment being put into closed and semi-closed systems such as the Certus.

FishGLOBE (made by the company of the same name) is a fully closed tank for smolt and post-smolt produc�on that offers the combined advantages of land-based recircula�ng aquaculture systems (RAS) farming with tradi�onal farming at sea.

The system is built in HDPE and is fully closed, with inlet pipes taking seawater in from a deep level – below the depth at which sea lice are usually found.

Solutions to sustainably harvest food from the sea www.morenot.com

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14/09/2021 17:50:16

Cages, pens, nets and moorings

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firstly to ensure that the fish transferred to the pen start with a low lice count and then secondly to maintain them in the submerged posi�on as much as possible.”

Avoiding the largest numbers of sea lice is the obvious advantage of submersible pens, but there are others, Olafsen believes. Marine growth is reduced when the pen is further from the surface, so the nets do not need to be cleaned so frequently, and the fish are also par�ally protected from harmful algal blooms.

Also, since there is less infrastructure on the surface, it is less vulnerable to damage even in exposed, high-energy sites.

Atlan�s has successfully taken on its main challenges, Olafsen said, including showing that the fish will readily use the system’s air dome to replenish their swim bladders, and now there is “great interest” in the project from the interna�onal fish farming industry. FF

Salmon “ are thriving

in the submersible cage

”

From the top: FiiZK’s Certus Harvest supplied to SalmoSea with 700-tonne capacity;

Trude Olafsen, Atlan�s Subsea Farming; Mowi’s Seaforth site

Photo: Arthur Campbell

The system also allows for close control of oxygen and CO2, and for precision management of feeding and waste disposal.

Now that the first-genera�on model has proved itself, FishGLOBE is in the process of comple�ng a second, improved version which it hopes will be launched later this month.

Tor Magne Madsen, Sales and Project Director, explains: “The Globe number two is equal in size to number one, but we have used the last year to really mature the design and find more simpler and easier way to engineer and assemble the construc�on.

“The basic technology of water flow, water pa�ern and collec�on of sedimental waste works so well that it is literally a blueprint of our construc�on number one.”

He adds: “We have now four genera�ons of post-smolt produc�on with great results in growth, fish welfare, low mortality, zero sea lice treatment and collec�on of waste. This proves that FishGLOBE keeps its promises and that it is far more t an a ‘sexy drawing/anima�on’. It is a fully working technology.

“We hope that more and more farmers will see it as a flexible alterna�ve for post-smolt produc�on on land, lower investment cost and lower energy consump�on (1kwh pr. Kg produced).”

The flexibility to move FishGLOBE from one site to another is another advantage, he says.

The submersible pens being pioneered by Atlan�s Subsea Farming look more like tradi�onal net-pens, but they are revolu�onary in their own way. Submerged 30 metres below the surface, the fish are protected from sea lice.

Earlier this year, fish were released into two submersible pens in a third and final round of tes�ng by Atlan�s, which is jointly owned by AKVA group, fish farmer SinkabergHansen and Egersund Net AS. Project Manager Trude Olafsen says: “The salmon are thriving in the submersible cages, and the results so far show that the salmon quickly learn to use the air dome in order to adjust the air in their swim bladder. The fish’s behaviour and welfare are good and feed conversion factor, growth, mortality and harvest results are equal or be�er to tradi�onal surface pen farming.

“The amount of lice detected on the fish in the submerged pen is lower than in tradi�onal surface pens. The key success factors to low lice levels are

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 16:45:12

SIMPLICITY STRENGTH STABILITY High quality cage nets and robust mooring solutions made for the harsh conditions of the North Atlantic

Specialized in the tough high energy sites Vonin.indd 61

13/09/2021 11:19:18

Boats and barges

Ship shape

It’s been a busy few months for boatbuilders in the aquaculture sector

BY SANDY NEIL

T

his year many innova�ve boats and barges have emerged in the aquaculture sector, such as a “do-it-all” wellboat and harvest vessel (the first of its kind in the world) and the next genera�on of workboats with advanced fuel efficiency – including the first hybrid workboat in Sco�sh fish farming.

First, let’s take a deep look into the new “u�lity wellboat” called Aqua Caledonia, which boasts mul�-purpose live fish handling abili�es with a capacity of 1,500m3, and a dedicated deck allowing instant on-site fish harves�ng.

The Aqua Caledonia was ordered by the fish farming vessel operator AquaShip, based Norway, Shetland and Chile, and is being built at the Balenciaga Shipyard on Spain’s northern coast. “The ship will have a capacity of up to 1,000 tonnes of harvested fish, and will be used for the transferring of smolts, grading, transport of live salmon and harves�ng of salmon at sea,” AquaShip says.

Around 35-40% of Sco�sh-produced salmon is slaughtered in harvest vessels moored at the pens where the fish are grown, with the other 60-65% taken by wellboat to harvest sta�ons on land. Having a wellboat that can also be used for harves�ng gives a fish farmer the ability to harvest large volumes of fish quickly if they are challenged by disease or environmental threats such as harmful algal blooms or jellyfish, as harvested fish require less room than live salmon.

“Arguably the industry’s most complex wellboat,” explains Alan Bourhill, general manager Aquaship UK, “the Aqua Caledonia will come with a

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high-capacity reverse osmosis plant, mul�ple fish weighing and coun�ng systems, three-way grading, both con�nuous-flow and vacuum fishhandling pumps, and the ability to pressure discharge directly to shore-based facili�es to a height of 20 metres.”

“Another key feature,” he adds, “is the focus on cleaner fish separa�on and handling, which provides these valuable fish with the same levels of life-support and monitoring standards as the salmon. The addi�on of high-capacity percussive stun and bleed equipment delivers the capability for either cage-side or quayside harves�ng, which will provide op�ons for farmers to mi�gate against the effects of any acute environmental and health challenges that may occur.

“The Aqua Caledonia was designed specifically for Sco�sh opera�ons with a shallow dra� so as not to preclude access to any site or shore-based facility at all �dal stages.”

The vessel’s equipment also includes shipquie�ng technologies to address the challenge of opera�ng in sensi�ve marine and costal loca�ons, including vibra�on isolators, acous�c insula�on

Above: Moen Marin’s electric catamaran Opposite: AKVA AC600VR feed barge

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 15:57:54

Ship shape

“

The Aqua Caledonia was designed specifically for Sco�sh opera�ons

”

and submerging all overboard cooling water discharges, and its water treatment and disinfec�on systems include UV and ozone disinfec�on, high-capacity filters and solids treatment including an onboard incinerator for solid waste and biomaterial.

“The efficiencies, flexibility and value that our u�lity vessel concept delivers is one that I expect to be transforma�onal for both the business and Scotland’s salmon farming sector,” Bourhill concludes.

Meanwhile, the Sco�sh-built Kallista Helen delicing vessel has been delivered to Sco�sh Sea Farms. Launched in March by Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow), and on long-term lease to Sco�sh Sea Farms from Mull-based Inverlussa Marine Services, the £6m, 26m Kallista Helen is a mul�-purpose service vessel that will be fi�ed with a £2.5m next-genera�on thermolicer.

Designed by Macduff Ship Design, the new vessel will enable the salmon producer to intervene earlier in sea lice control, helping safeguard farmed fish health.

“From the outset, Sco�sh Sea Farms was looking to minimise fish handling and maximise fish welfare, designing the boat around those,” Ben Wilson, managing director of Inverlussa, says of the Kallista Helen, named

Sunderland Marine provides market leading stock mortality & equipment insurance.

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Boats-final.indd 63

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13/09/2021 15:58:44

Boats and barges

a�er his niece, Helen. Central to the vessel’s bespoke design is the thermolicer itself, designed and engineered by ScaleAQ in Norway in partnership with ScaleAQ UK. A sudden rise in water temperature is a well-known method of killing lice, so the thermolicer has been developed to bathe the fish in temperate water for a short period. This will cause the lice to die and fall off the fish, a�er which they are separated from the water using a 500 micron filtra�on system, and collected for removal from the marine environment.

To properly delouse the fish, the system’s water is required to be at 28⁰C to 34⁰C depending on seawater temperatures however, there is a heat recovery system in place to draw heat from the engines and transfer it to the delousing system, saving on both fuel usage and carbon emissions.

The large vacuum pumps and wider, straighter pipes also create a gentler experience for the fish, and allows for delicing up to 120 tonnes per hour of fish. As the process only u�lises seawater, it avoids pumping any chemicals into the sea.

The thermolicer has a dedicated shelter deck to shield it from the elements, and there is a large area on the top deck for cargo and equipment, namely three HS Marine AK 40 cranes. The 40 ton/m cranes have a max outreach of 15.1m and can all work simultaneously without any restric�ons.

This enables the vessel to operate the en�re system, including all intakes and return systems, making it less dependent on other workboats. Following comple�on in Glasgow in May, the Kallista Helen departed for Shetland for final ou�i�ng.

64

Boats-final.indd 64

Other companies have developed on-board innova�ve equipment, like the ship loader and unloader from FM Bulk Handling – Fjordvejs, described as a gentle and efficient system for loading ships with fish feed pellets from the port or unloading the feed into silos on the water at the individual farms.

“We provide gentle transport from factory to ship and from ship to silo on the feed fleet,” the company says. “It is no coincidence that we are the first choice as a supplier for handling readymade fish feed pellets for those who care about the quality of the pellets delivered.”

Its advantages include: minimal crumb due to gentle handling, and thus minimal spillage and contamina�on; a be�er working environment with less dust than tradi�onal blowing systems; less energy consump�on; and less �me taken to load and unload.

The weight of the ship loader and the ship unloader is kept down by means of a special construc�on. It stabilises the ships’ load distribu�on.

Bucket li�s, augers and other equipment are also designed for gentle handling of feed pellets.

Another aquaculture company is busy building the next genera�on of wellboats with advances in fuel efficiency. The fish farm vessel support company DESS Aquaculture Shipping has signed a contract with Mowi Norway for long-term charter of two large live fish carriers, with a well capacity of 6000m3, and dual-fuel engines which can u�lise liquid natural gas, biogas and poten�ally ammonia in the future.

The vessels will be built at Sefine Shipyard at Turkiye in Turkey, and have been designed by Salt Ship Design AS. They will be equipped with a freshwater produc�on plant that can produce up to 6,000m3 per day, with available space on deck to install delicing equipment.

sh “SeaSco� Farms

was looking to minimise fish handling and maximise fish welfare

”

Above: Inverlussa’s Kallista Helen – and the ship’s namesake Left: FM Bulk Handling’s onboard system

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13/09/2021 15:59:49

Ship shape

ALL THE ADVANTAGES OF A RIB, JUST HARDER

Featured: 8.5m, aluminium and HDPE collar. Specifically designed for Salmon farm work, with heated cabin, twin Oxe diesel outboards. Coded MCA Cat 3 on delivery.

Built in Shetland and designed to withstand the harshest sea conditions, Flugga Boats utilise an HDPE collar and aluminium materials for strength, low maintenance and a long-life hull.

Flugga Boats, Hagdale Industrial Estate, Baltasound, Unst, Shetland ZE2 9TW Tel: (+44)1957 711 881 Email:info@fluggaboats.co.uk www.fluggaboats.co.uk

OXE DIESEL OUTBOARD The OXE is the world’s first high-performance diesel outboard. It combines the reliability and endurance of marine inboards with the flexibility and agility of outboard engines. It is the only outboard that complies with EPA Tier-III, IMO Tier II and RCD emissions and environmental standards.

It is designed and built for commercial user according to commercial user demands.

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Boats and barges

Detroit, the shipbuilding group based in Brazil and Chile, is one of the leading builders for service boats in the Americas. The company is currently working on its latest model, the Wellboat 300, which is eagerly an�cipated in the next few months. Detroit has built vessels for more than 140 clients and is one of the foremost suppliers for the aquaculture sector in Chile.

Meanwhile, fish farmers have also been inves�ng in specialist feed barges.

Icelandic salmon company Ice Fish Farm has chosen the AKVA group to supply two AC600VR feed barges for its opera�ons in the east of the country.

Kjartan Lindbøl, Produc�on Manager at Ice Fish Farm, says: “For us, it is important to think long term and prepare for the future. We need flexibility at the loca�ons we operate in, and some of our loca�ons are exposed to waves and bad weather condi�ons.

“The AC600VR model from AKVA group was the best choice as it is the most robust barge model in the market in terms of design. In addi�on, AKVA group has adapted the barges with a flexible feeding system and we see great advantages to that.”

Lindbøl adds: “The fact that AKVA group has been established with a base and a service offering in Eski�ordur on the east coast of Iceland is a great advantage for us.”

The AC600VR model has been developed for exposed loca�ons and was first introduced to the market at Aqua Nor in 2019. AKVA is now a well-established name in Iceland, with eight feed barges in opera�on throughout the country.

Meanwhile, AKVA group ASA and Norwegian service boat business Abyss Group AS have agreed to combine AKVA Marine Services AS with Abyss Group, with AKVA group becoming a shareholder in the combined company.

As part of the transac�on, funds advised by Icon Capital AS will be invested in the combined company to allow further growth. The ini�al investment

by Icon Capital will be NOK 100m with further growth capital being available Above: DESS wellboats to the board of Abyss Group subject to certain condi�ons. LIN AS, which is Opposite: Flugga workboat an exis�ng investor in Abyss Group, will also provide addi�onal capital, and both AKVA group, Icon Capital and LIN will be represented on Abyss Group’s board.

Also in Norway, Seabrokers Chartering has taken a 75% stake in shipbroking and mari�me services business Skagen Ship Consul�ng.

Seabrokers says the acquisi�on is part of its diversifica�on strategy, and gives the company a foothold in the fish farming market.

Skagen was founded by two entrepreneurs, Håkon Rugland and Patrick Ramsberg, and serves customers in aquaculture, fisheries and other mari�me sectors. The business facilitates a range of turnkey projects, with services including broking and funding, project management and supply of site teams and equipment, design and requirement specifica�ons, as well as

For us, it is important to think long “term and prepare for the future ”

66

Boats-final.indd 66

shipbuilding from start to finish.

Projects include new builds, such as an aquaculture service vessel currently being built for Ocean Farm Services, and conversion of vessels from the offshore energy sector for use in fish farming.

Back in Scotland, Inverlussa Marine Services has ordered a new hybrid catamaran from shipbuilder Moen Marin, which will be the first hybrid workboat in Sco�sh aquaculture. The NabCat 1510 is a 15m catamaran that uses electric and diesel power. It is equipped with Scania propulsion machinery, Nogva rotatable gear and propeller system, and Palfinger 65tm and 32tm cranes.

Moen Marin is a subsidiary of Scale AQ. Graham Smith, general manager of the parent company’s Bri�sh division, says the move to select a hybrid workboat, cu�ng down on CO2 emissions, is in line with the Sco�sh Salmon Sustainability Charter. “It is great to see that Sco�sh aquaculture is ge�ng its first hybrid electric vessel,” he says, “and I believe and hope that this is just the beginning.”

In Shetland, Unst Inshore Services is developing the latest version of its efficient and prac�cal Flugga Boat, the workboat that it plans to exhibit at the Aqua UK trade show at Aviemore in May 2022.

The company has built six Flugga Boats for Grieg Seafood, four with a forward cabin and two with an open a� cuddy. Their rib-like workboats make use of an innova�ve design. Made of aluminium with a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) collar – which is flexible but highly durable – they have a very low cost throughout the life of the boat.

The Flugga Boats’ OXE diesel 150hp outboards, explains the company’s Managing Director Jack Barclay, give a top speed of just

www.fishfarmermagazine.com

13/09/2021 16:01:34

Ship shape

over 30 knots if required.

He adds: “Cruise is very economical and the engines are fairly quiet. One big advantage is that they run a heater off the cooling system, which is very welcome in winter, making the cabin very comfortable.

“Sustainability comes from the reduced emissions from the diesel engines compared to petrol outboards. Plus there is the added bonus

that diesel is readily available on site. This means a person doesn’t have to con�nually go to the local garage to get petrol for the boats. Being alloy and HDPE means the boats can be recycled at the end of life, but currently some of the early boats are 15 years old and s�ll in opera�on.”

The Flugga team are confident their customers are increasingly looking at sustainability and environmental impact when it comes to choosing workboats, and this includes the manufacturing process itself. Flugga Boats has its own wind turbine which can power the whole workshop most days, as Shetland is rarely short of wind! FF

Detroit Shipyards

P

laced near one of the main aquaculture markets, with experienced, highly skilled and operation-driven teams in newbuilding and transformation both in Chile and Brazil, Detroit Shipyards can offer the best experience in the Americas for shipowners worldwide.

With vessels that stand out for their quality and high versatility, its shipyards have already delivered more than 140 projects, and Detroit has been one of the most sought-after service vessel providers in the Americas for the last 20 years.

The company supports a variety of different markets with an

Wellboat EIR delivered by Detroit’s Brazilian Shipyard in 2020, sailing on south of Chile

outstanding portfolio that offers wellboats, pontoons and other assets for aquaculture, including the latest development, the “Wellboat 3000”, which is due to come onto the market in the next few months.

Puerto Mon� KM. 13 Camino Chinquihue +56 (65) 248-2300 www.detroit.cl/as�lleros jrmr@detroit.cl

Detroit Brasil shipyard in Itajaí-SC city, Brazil

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Boats-final.indd 67

Itajaí Rua César Augusto Dalçóquio, Nº 4500 +55 (47) 2103-8500 www.detroit.cl/as�lleros jz�ra@detroit.cl

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13/09/2021 16:02:15

Products and services

What’s NEW Monthly update on industry innovations and solutions from around the world Setting new standards for operational range and outboard emissions

THE OXE Diesel engine reduces fuel consumption by more than 42% compared to a modern gasoline outboard of equivalent horsepower, setting new standards for internal combustion engines within the global outboard industry. On top of this, by using the sustainable fuel option Biodiesel – which is compliant with all OXE Marine products – you can further reduce your net carbon footprint by up to 90%. In addition, HVO and Biodiesel fuels reduce net carbon dioxide by up to 94% or up to 257,082Kg/1000hrs of operation. This reduction significantly contributes to a reduced environmental impact, while increasing the operational range for users by 60%. Discover more about OXE Diesel outboards at: oxemarine.com

Running like clockwork

Stress-free loading with FM BULK HANDLING

THE world-famous FIAP clockwork feeder has been further developed and now a PRO version is also being produced. Clear advantages incorporated in the new model include a sliding ring bearing, a removable conveyor belt – which can be taken out without dismantling the clockwork mechanism – and a shaft made of seawater-resistant aluminium. Also new for this model is an additional clockwork running time of four hours.

For more information see www.fiap.com

THE ship loaders and unloaders from FM BULK HANDLING are designed for gentle handling. Even with a capacity up to 330 m3/h, there is hardly any dust, or broken/damaged fish fed pellets, when the pellets are loaded onto the silos on board the vessel.

It is not only fish feed pellets the ship loaders are used for. FM BULK HANDLING also provides ship loaders for loading fish meal onto ships. The capacity of up to 330 m3/h will meet most demands for effective loading and minimising waiting time at the quay, but if higher capacity is required FM BULK HANDLING has a solution for that, too. www.fmbulk.com

GEA offers slice of good fortune

FROM April 2022 the UK Government will be imposing a new tax on any plastics which are not at least 30% recycled material. GEA’s innovative FoodTray solution, handled automatically by the GEA PowerPak PLUS thermoformer, can reduce plastic usage by up to 80% by utilising a fully recyclable cardboard base.

GEA also offers high-performance slicers that can be integrated into fully automated slicing and packaging lines. The special saw-tooth edge for involute blades guarantees high-quality slicing, improving the process’s energy footprint.

Thanks not only to advances in GEA slicing technology but also GEA’s purpose-designed, saw-tooth blade, it is possible to slice without the need for crust freezing.

Further information is available at: www.gea.com

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Industry Diary

Industry DIARY The latest aquaculture events, conferences and courses SEPTEMBER 21 AQUACULTURE INNOVATION SUMMIT Virtual event

FEBRUARY 22 AQUACULTURE 2022 San Diego, California, USA February 27 - March 3, 2022

MAY 22 AQUACULTURE UK 2022

www.aquacultureinnovationsummit.com September 28-29, 2021

OCTOBER 21 AQUACULTURE EUROPE 2021 Madeira, Portugal October 4-7, 2021

MARCH 22 2022 SEAFOOD EXPO NORTH AMERICA/ SEAFOOD PROCESSING Boston, Massachusetts, USA March 13-15, 2022

Aviemore will once again be the venue for this biennial trade fair and conference. It is undoubtedly the most important aquaculture exhibition held in the British Isles. The show has a tremendous following and with increased investment for 2022 it promises to reach even further across the broader aquaculture markets in both the UK and Europe.

Aviemore, United Kingdom May 3-5, 2022

DECEMBER 21 WORLD AQUACULTURE 2020

The event will be held in Singapore this year with involvement from countries throughout the Asian-Pacific region and around the world.

Aquaculture is growing rapidly in the region and therefore 2021 is the perfect time for the world aquaculture community to turn its focus here.

Singapore December 5-8, 2021

RASTECH CONFERENCE

RAStech 2022 is the venue for learning, networking and knowledge sharing on RAS technologies, design and implementation across the world.

Hilton Head Island, SC, USA March 30-31, 2022

WORLD AQUACULTURE 2021

Merida, Mexico May 24-27, 2021

AUGUST 22 WAS NORTH AMERICA & AQUACULTURE CANADA

AQUACULTURE AFRICA 2021

St John’s Newfoundland, Canada.

August 15-18, 2022

Alexandria, Egypt December 11-14, 2021

WORLD AQUACULTURE 2022 APRIL 22

Qingdao, PR China TBD

SEPTEMBER 22 SEAFOOD EXPO GLOBAL /SEAFOOD PROCESSING GLOBAL AQUACULTURE EUROPE www.seafoodexpo.com/global 2022 Fira, Barcelona, Spain April 26-28, 2022

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13/09/2021 11:27:47

Opinion – Inside track

Home thoughts

BY NICK JOY

H

ere I am, sitting on a big ferry, returning from a week in Portugal.

Ferries are hardly new to me, but it’s somewhat comfortable being on a known commodity returning from a holiday that several years ago would have seemed utterly normal. Now with tests here and there, mask rules variable and endless forms to fill in, we feel like we have been on a safari to deepest, darkest Africa. Nevertheless, the change has been wonderful and the people wonderfully welcoming.

Oh, and very importantly, those of you who have been selling Scottish salmon to Portugal should be lauded, as your reputation is high and the restaurants and hotels produce some very good salmon meals. We spent plenty of time sampling and checking the quality of both food and wine there and salmon was regularly on the menu.

Whilst away I still receive the questions asked in the Scottish Parliament which are pertinent to me. They come through a quite circuitous route, but are a great source of information. I was utterly delighted to see that the Scottish Government sees fish farming as “an essential part of our green recovery and transition to net zero”.

What a wonderful thing to read after all of these years! What a lovely surprise and how different an approach to the public when compared with all of the many years I have been around this industry. It is also an accolade both to the industry’s performance and its liaison with the Scottish Government. So from someone now far detached from the front line, it is extremely pleasing to see.

I cannot but wonder how this sits with the current pact between the SNP and the Greens when you take into consideration one of the other questions (not asked by a Green MSP): “To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the terms of reference of the external review of the regulatory process involved in fish farming, to be conducted by Professor Russel Griggs.”

Oh how well I remember the endless reviews of regulation, government questions, criticism of the industry and then subsequently the endless and relentless pressure to ensure that the proposed regulation didn’t derail either the current production or all future growth of the industry.

The Greens were certainly some of the worst detractors and critics, and so I guess this subject falls into the area they have detailed in their release where they will agree to disagree with the SNP. Hopefully the larger party will dominate!

Whilst I am not of the opinion that our industry should be unregulated, I so often wish that government knew just how much management time goes into trying to ensure logical control. If I could have had just half of that time back, there is so much more we could have done as a company. I’m sure that many in the current industry would feel the same.

Of course, our industry would grow illogically and unsustainably if completely unregulated, as all industries would. In a democracy it is also inevitable that questions will be asked of any industry, especially by those representatives who are not in government.

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In a “ democracy it is

inevitable that questions will be asked of any industry

”

Those MSPs who are often lobbied by opposing industries believe that they are representing their constituency too, so it is perfectly reasonable that these questions should be asked from that aspect as well.

I suppose my dream would be that each review has a timetable agreed at the time it is commissioned, composed of a review timetable agreed politically in order to give the industry a stable period in which to prosper and focus on the key drivers of the business.

I know, I know – it’s fanciful. But the older I get and the more time I spend looking at how our industry fares with government, the more I agree with the old French expression: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

In other words, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I wish it were not so! FF

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13/09/2021 15:31:56

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