Monday 8 December 2014

Norway – Closed Containment Study


My list of 70 on-land, closed, recirculating fish farms, comprising more than 8000 actual fish farms, is at this link:  http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2013/10/65-on-land-fish-farm-systems-oct-20-2013.html

Even Norway is getting on the bandwagon of getting them out of the water: http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/24701/nofima-to-host-centre-for-aquaculture-research
Norway, where the environmentally damaging in-ocean fish farming of Atlantic salmon began, is looking at closed-containment. It pretty much deletes diseases, lice, high mortality and escape issues and makes more money by delivering fish more quickly.

As not having to pay for the sewage damage that in-ocean closed fish farms is so large a part of the costs not borne by in-ocean farms like Marine Harvest, Cermaq, and Grieg Seafoods today it is difficult to see whether or if ever the companies actually will come out of the water. They persistently refuse to come out of the water, and the highest cost they avoid is the sewage they release.

The commonly accepted comparison of fish with human sewage is that 10 fish equal the sewage of one human being. In Norway, Scotland, and BC Canada, the sewage cost avoided is equal to all the sewage put out by the entire population of humans.

Nevertheless, Nofima is one of 17 institutions chosen to become host for Centres for Research based innovation. “A considerable part of salmon production in the future will be carried out in closed-containment systems on land or in semi-closed containment systems in the sea.” Since so much mortality comes at smolting at 80 grams, the first benefit has shown that holding them in on-land closed systems to 250 grams past the time of smolting, lowers losses.

Their research phase is funded for 8 years at the present, so it provides another decade of time for fish farm companies to refuse to come out of the water. However, “the overall goal of the CtrlAQUA Centre is to develop the technological and biological innovations that can lead to closed-containment systems becoming a reliable and financially viable technology.”

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