Pioneer Kintyre fish farm is up for sale

AN EXPERIMENTAL onshore salmon farm in a Machrihanish aircraft hangar is being put up for sale.

Norwegian firm Niri pioneered its Atlantic salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in a 1,600 cubic metre rearing tank in Machrihanish Airbase Community Company’s Gaydon hanger.

Niri’s experiment to grow 26,000 Atlantic salmon was run by its founder and former managing director Arve Gravdal.

The ‘unique’ landbased system for rearing salt- and fresh- water fish such as salmon, tilapia and cod can save energy and costs, its website explains, and be rolled out on an industrial scale around the world.

It adds that the tanks also capture all sludges, prevent fish escapes into the sea and reduce the spread of diseases.

A subsidiary, Niri Scotland Ltd, announced this week it had ‘now reached a major milestone’. It said: ‘Having developed a facility in Machrihanish to prove the Niri RAS technology, the shareholders have taken the decision to offer the facility for sale.

‘We are now able to receive interest from industrial investors who wish to develop further the Machrihanish facility.

‘Niri shareholders wish to remain true to their strategy focused on being a technology business and not a production company.

‘Niri not only believes in RAS technology but sees this as the future of the production of high quality Atlantic salmon.’