International rescue
Safety to the forefront for SINTEF Ocean
COMPARED to deep sea fishing, its much older cousin, aquaculture is a comparatively safe industry. But accidents do happen, sometimes with fatal consequences. It is only a few months ago that a Mowi Scotland assistant manager was killed in an incident at its site on the Kyle of Lochalsh.
Then there is also the impact of sudden and unexpected biological issues such as algae bloom outbreaks.
Now two cutting edge Norwegian independent research institutions are carrying a new research and development project designed to make fish farming safer and better prepared to deal with unexpected biological threats.
Aquaculture and fish transport specialists NTS ASA and SINTEF Ocean , two of Europe’s largest independent research organisations have joined forces to develop better emergency response services for hazard and accident situations, as well as potential environmental threats.
The research and development project is called “Coastal Emergency Preparedness” is being led by NTS with the main focus on hazard and accident situations at aquaculture sites.
These include a wide range of potential hazards including personal injury, ship accidents, fish escapes and acute environmental discharges or as Norway experienced in the early summer of last year with the algae bloom attack which had a devastating impact at a number of fish farms only a year ago.
It was the worst such outbreak for 30 years, leading to the loss of eight million salmon and 2.5 billion kroner(£205-million) in financial terms.
So NTS has brought together a consortium of industry players ranging from fish farming companies to safety experts and vessel designers.
For its part SINTEF Ocean is the responsible research partner co-ordinating the work into an established project.
NTS project manager Morten Øyahals says incidents like this are not only very costly, but can also have serious consequences for people, the fish and the environment.
“We believe there is a need for more robust preparedness for major events in the aquaculture industry, such as the algae outbreak last year,” he added. For example, there were still no specific emergency vessels to deal with such problems.
Ingunn Marie Holmen from SINTEF Ocean, who is leading the research and development work, said: “The Norwegian authorities have a stated goal of facilitating sustainable growth in aquaculture.
‘Yet there are no national emergency resources that meet the long term needs of the industry, especially activity and constructions are on the increase. For example, there was little knowledge about the interaction between environmental conditions around fish farms and algal blooms.’
She added:
‘The consequences of such incidents can be very serious and lead to damage to the environment and financial loss, reduced fish welfare or
lost fish.
‘Coupled with existing monitoring services for vessels and installations, in the event of an outbreak the project will help to make it easier to evacuate biomass to safer areas and improve the overall readiness of the operation.
‘And there is also an important coastal emergency research and development element to the project focusing on hazards and accidents whether ashore or on vessels’.
She explained:
‘The consortium behind Coastal Emergency Preparedness is therefore to equip aquaculture vessels in daily operation with sensors that can monitor the environmental situation below sea level. The data will be used to develop early warning models.’
Holmen also has considerable knowledge about the danger of personal injury accidents and other incidents which can occur on fish farms and which at times can be high.
She says:
‘‘Coastal emergency preparedness will undoubtedly make important contributions to the safety and preparedness of the aquaculture industry.
‘It will also increase the safety of everyone working along coastal areas. From a socio-economic perspective, the project should provide positive benefits related to life and health, the environment and equipment.’
Coupled with existing monitoring services for ships and installations, the project will help to make it easier to evacuate biomass to safe areas, coordinate boats in accident areas and strengthen the general preparedness for large operations.
Surprisingly, there were still no emergency boats specifically designed or built to deal with hazards, biological or otherwise. Morten Øyahals added: “Through this project, we therefore want to develop a separate emergency vessel- or be able to equip existing aquaculture vessels- with a view to rescuing personnel, escaping fish and other incidents.”
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The project will help to make it easier to evacuate biomass to areas” safer