Posts by Robert Outram
Lerøy loses 490,000 young salmon to ‘water quality’ issues
The Lerøy Seafood group has been affected by another biological incident which has led to the death of almost half a million young salmon in Norway. The deaths were reported at the Lerøy Sjøtroll facility at Kjærelva in Fitjar municipality in Sunnhordland. They are thought to be due to poor water quality. Lerøy Sjøtroll said…
Read MoreBrighter outlook for AKVA group
Aquaculture technology service company AKVA has reported a strong increase in revenues and operating profits for last year. AKVA recorded an EBIT of NOK 68m (£5m) against an operating loss of NOK 56m (£4m) in 2022. Revenues increased by 2% to NOK 3,432m (£254m) and it also has a strong order intake last year of…
Read MoreA slippery problem
A United Nations initiative aims to promote the recovery of the European eel population in the Mediterranean. Is aquaculture helping or hindering? The future of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), an iconic fish species and much appreciated in Mediterranean cuisine, is currently at risk. But a management plan that includes a partial closure of eel…
Read MoreFrom problem to product
Sludge from fish farms and hatcheries is seen as waste, but it also contains potentially valuable resources One of the advantages of fish farming with a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) is that waste – in its various forms – can be collected rather than ending up in the ocean. The bad news is that it…
Read MoreThe March 2024 issue of Fish Farmer is out now online
The March issue of Fish Farmer magazine is out now online, and you can read or download it here. The fearsome-looking creature on the cover this month is a pike-perch, also known as a zander. In Continental Europe it is recognised as a high quality fish for the table, but it has proved very difficult…
Read MoreThe war on lice
Technology is opening up a number of potential fronts in the struggle to keep farmed fish lice-free Early warning could help salmon farmers take timely action to reduce sea lice numbers before their stock becomes infested with the parasites. Clearly, assessing the levels of sea lice by counting the lice attached to salmon in a…
Read MoreIndustry chiefs attack new traffic light plan
Salmon industry opposition is growing to the Norwegian government’s revision of the “traffic light system” which sets rules for where aquaculture development is permitted. The chief executives of both Mowi and Leroy Seafoods, Ivan Vindheim and Henning Beltestad respectively, have publicly come out against the proposals. They have said the new plan will do nothing…
Read MoreAquaculture trainees are ALBAS winners
Trainees from Scottish Sea Farms and Cooke Aquaculture were among the winners at the ALBAS (Awards for Land-based and Aquaculture Skills) on Thursday night. Craig Grounds (pictured above, with Jill Couto-Phoenix), from Oban in Argyll and Bute, won Aquaculture Learner of the Year. He completed his Modern Apprenticeship in Aquaculture at UHI Shetland while working…
Read MoreHammamet to host AFRAQ24 conference
The 3rd Annual International Conference and Exposition of the African Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society (AFRAQ24) will be held in Hammamet, Tunisia from 19 to 22 November 2024. The organisers are now calling for abstracts for potential inclusion in the conference. Tunisia is one of the largest and fastest growing aquaculture producer countries in…
Read MoreScaling up
Bacteria are being put to work, extracting the useful elements from harvested seaweed, as Robert Outram reports We’re in the John Coulson Building at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, watching macerated sugar kelp spinning furiously in what looks like a sophisticated food processor. The aim of the exercise is not, however, to create a nutritious seaweed smoothie.…
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