Photo: Steinar Johansen/MNH
Midt-Norsk Havbruk received four development licenses to develop four generations of the semi closed fish cage Aquatraz owned by Seafarming Systems.
The first Aquatraz fish cage was launched in Aug 2018 and placed in Eiterfjorden where it was stocked with salmon in Oct 2018. “So far, the experiences are good, both in terms of technology and biology. The project has given us a lot of knowledge that we bring with us in the further development of Aquatraz,” said Steingrim Holm, PM for the Aquatraz project to salmonbusiness.com
Several changes was made to this 2nd generation (salmonbusiness.com)
Wider walkway with room for 10 feet containers and a new lifting system were some of the changes.
“So far, the operation of the Aquatraz cage in Årsetfjorden has worked very well. Both temperature and salinity measurements show that we’re taking in water from a depth of about 20 metres, which is good with regard to lice pressure,” Holm explained to fishfarmingexpert.com
The fourth and final generation in the development project tested a new patent pending water circulation system (salmonbusiness.com). The cage was emptied and salmon sent for slaughter in Sept 2021. A total of 6.348 tonnes of salmon was produced in the Aquatraz cages during the development project.
In addition to the technology development, large amounts of knowledge have been produced during the project, and shared openly. The reports are in Norwegian, but the results are summarised the results in English.
