Pen ‘enclosed’ in new fight against lice

NORWEGIAN salmon farmer Cermaq transferred smolts into its sea based closed containment system this week.
The 120m pen, in Horsvågen in Nordland, is encased in tarpaulin and will have water pumped in from a depth of 13m, preventing sea lice entering the cage.
The tarp wall is made of strong and flexible composite, which minimises the risk of escape, in what Cermaq describes as the world’s largest closed cage using flexible walls. Capacity is 400 tonnes and volume is 10,400 m3.
‘We have been working on this project for a long time, and we are happy that we now are ready to put fish into the pen,’ said Frode Holmvaag, manager seawater Nordland of Cermaq Norway.
‘This is new technology to us, and it will be very interesting to follow the growth and development of the fish in the new containment system.’
The system, which has been constructed in partnership with Botngaard and Serge Ferrari, is certified for locations with a wave height of 2m, and can be used at most existing sea sites.
Botngaard system delivery manager Magnus Stendal said: ‘The delivery and start-up of the closed cage in Horsvågen mark a milestone for Botngaard and our development programme for closed cages.
‘We will now work together with Cermaq and our industry partners to further improve the technology and daily operations of the cage.’
Serge Ferrari, world leader in innovative flexible materials, has developed the membrane wall that makes the containment system flexible and safe.
The company’s Gabriel Faysse said: ‘After six years spent on R&D on various topics such as non-toxic formulation, as little elongation as possible and excellent lifetime, Serge Ferrari has come up with a new membrane dedicated to flexible closed cages: our Biobrane Aqua 2050.
‘This highly secure fabric gives security against fish escape, more than ever.’
Oslo based Cermaq, which is owned by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, said it will cooperate closely with scientists to optimise the new closed containment system.
‘There are still a lot of things we don’t know about closed containment systems,’ said Harald Takle, R&D manager farming technology in Cermaq Group.
‘We see that closed containment systems in the ocean can play an important role in the aquaculture industry in the future, but it still requires further development.
‘This is why we have applied for development licences with the FlexiFarm concept, which takes closed containment systems a giant step further as it will include cost-effective water treatment against infections and allow harvest size production in more exposed areas.’
Picture: Smolt is put into Cermaq\’s new closed containment system in Horsvågen (photo: Cermaq)