Archive for February 2024
Icelandic investors snap up Optimar
High-tech aquaculture and processing business Optimar International has been acquired by Icelandic investment company Kaldbakur ehf. Kaldbakur has completed the purchase of all shares in the company from the previous owner, German investment firm Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, for an undisclosed sum. Based in Ålesund, Norway, and with offices in Norway, Spain, Romania, and…
Read MoreAQUA 2024 is taking shape!
AQUA 2024, co-organised by the European Aquaculture Society and the World Aquaculture Society, will take place from August 26-30 in Copenhagen. The event will be hosted at Copenhagen’s Bella Centre (pictured), and will comprise a scientific conference, trade exhibition, industry forums, workshops, student events and receptions. AQUA 2024 will highlight the latest aquaculture research and…
Read MoreScottish Pavilion at Aqua Nor hailed a resounding success
Team Scotland’s presence last year at Aqua Nor, the international aquaculture trade show, has been hailed as a resounding success. In a poll, three-quarters of the Scottish businesses represented there said they expect to see an increase in turnover after attending the biennial exhibition and conference held at Trondheim in Norway, in August last year.…
Read MoreSeeing through the glass ceiling
Tackling unconscious choices can help us ‘banish’ bias from aquaculture, argues Heather Jones There was a wonderful moment in the BBC’s The Traitors – no spoilers here for those who still haven’t watched, I promise – when host Claudia Winkleman spotted a trend in the contestants who were being removed from the game. The three…
Read MoreISA suspected at Lerøy site
Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is suspected at a Lerøy Seafood site at Frøya in Norway’s Trondelag region. Lerøy Midt AS informed the Norwegian Food Safety Authority of its concerns last week, based on the results of PCR analysis carried out after samples were taken at the site. The operation there had already been closed due to bacterial…
Read MoreCod farmer acquires salmon harvesting site
Norwegian cod farmer Ode has taken over a harvesting facility formerly owned by the salmon group Måsøval. Ode confirmed at the weekend that it had acquired the Western Seaproducts facility in Vartdal near Ålesund, on the west coast of Norway. The plant will become a fully owned subsidiary and will be operated as a specialised…
Read MoreBuilding blue resilience
The Blue Food Innovation Summit, taking place in London on 21 & 22 May, brings together a community of more than 350 ocean and blue food pioneers scaling innovation in production, technology, retail, innovation and investment scaling solutions for a biodiverse, stronger and resilient blue economy. While the demand for blue foods is on the…
Read MoreFisheries and Seafood Scheme opens latest funding round
Applications are now being invited for seafood sector projects as part of the UK government’s Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS). Around £6m in matched funding is set to be allocated. FaSS is open for applications until 31 March 2025 or until all funding has been allocated, whichever happens first, and is available on a first-come,…
Read MoreOxygenation project at Macquarie Harbour gets underway
Scientists working on a project to restore oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania say the first stage has proved to be a success. The Macquarie Harbour Oxygenation Project (MHOP) aims to tackle the problem of low dissolved oxygen levels in the Harbour, a large indented lagoon, roughly 33 km long by 9 km wide, and…
Read MoreTaking on the challenges
Climate change and other factors keep throwing up new threats to fish health, as our expert panel explained in Fish Farmer’s Aqua Agenda webinar. Robert Outram reports THE PANELLISTS Dr Iain Berrill Head of Technical, Salmon Scotland Dr Iain Berrill has always had an interest in the marine and freshwater environment. He studied a BSc…
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