Uplifting innovation with new mort solution
STAYING one step ahead has been key to the success of Ferguson Transport & Shipping, said Alasdair Ferguson.
That demands a team effort, which seems to be as smoothly oiled as the company’s HGVs: While Alasdair may recognise a new challenge, in any of the sectors they work in, it is his brother Jack who develops the technical and practical solutions, and sister Carol who then organises the administration.
‘Innovation is developed on the back of a need for it,’ said Ferguson. ‘The closer we work with the customers on their challenges – and the more they allow you to take the strain and deal with these- the easier it is to come up with those solutions.’
In the early days of salmon farming, the business handled the bin harvests for Marine Harvest, on boats and the back of flatbed trucks.
And then, with the establishment of the £500,000 harvesting station at Mallaig 15 years ago, and the arrival of the well boat Ronja Commander to transport the fish, Ferguson’s role changed again.
‘We put our heads together with the trailer manufacturer Crossland Tankers and Ian Armstrong of Marine Harvest [who managed the Mallaig operation],’ said Ferguson. ‘And we came up with the best cylindrical tanks for insulation, with temperature control and no baffles.’
Ferguson now has 16 of these tanks on the road, moving fish from Mallaig to Mowi’s processing plant at Blar Mhor in Fort William.
‘It’s all part of evolution, and no doubt what we see in 10 years’ time will be completely different again,’ said Ferguson. ‘We’ve really worked hard at understanding how we can be part of change.’
The company’s latest aquaculture innovation has been kept under the radar until now, but having proved its efficiency, Ferguson is hoping to extend the concept to the bigger market.
Called the ‘Biosecure Mort Management Solution’, it is a typically simple, but cost-effective Ferguson-style means of removing waste from farms with as little disruption as possible.
Ferguson ‘saw a gap in the industry’ and his brother Jack then came up with the solution ‘because he knows the boats, the cranes, the equipment, the tanks…his input has been tremendous’.
‘We have picked up mortalities for a few years, but two years ago we began studying it in more detail and rolled out the new equipment a year ago,’ said Ferguson.
‘Historically, you need net collectors from the pens, bins, skips, steam cleaners, and people trying to get bins on and off ferries; and there have been real issues with odour.’
The new system involves sealed cylindrical tanks, which can be loaded on to a vessel and taken directly to the pens.
‘We’ve designed and built these tanks so when we go to unloading points, there are large outlets at the rear for tipping’ said Ferguson.
Two tanks can be reversed on to a vessel. And there is a ‘clam shell’ de-waterer fitted to the crane on the vessel so all the water goes back into the sea at the pens after the morts are airlifted out.
There is minimal manpower – one farm worker can operate the uplift, and there are no bins of dead fish on the shore base or loading of bins on to trucks.
‘We currently have a pool of tanks and the vessel has an uplift system of circa 20 tonnes per hour,’ said Ferguson.
Each tank can hold around 20 tonnes at a time and all the equipment is modular, which means when not uplifting fish, the vessels can be deployed elsewhere.
But Ferguson sees the system just as much as a small scale, pen to pen service for regular collections, if required.
‘We’re trying to get the message across that we can do small uplifts as well as on a larger scale,’ said Ferguson. ‘We can have vessels in a number of different areas uplifting regular mortalities.’
The waste goes to disposal and recycling centres as far away as Cumbernauld or Dumfries, but Ferguson said it would be more economic and environmentally friendly if there were ensiled waste points strategically and centrally placed closer to the farms, which could then potentially sell ensiled waste for biogas or other energy from waste processes.
One company in particular (in the energy market) has shown a strong interest in what Ferguson is doing and discussions with them and salmon farmers are already taking place, he said.
Ferguson would also like to see how it can support the farmers further, sharing the cost of handling waste and perhaps supporting a ‘bus stop’ collection, with the vessels going round the farms retrieving morts as part of day to day site maintenance.
The company has invested £400,000-500,000 in the equipment to date so that it is available for everyone in the salmon farming industry.
‘We’re trying to centralise, localise and come up with affordable, sustainable solutions that will keep costs down. It still involves vehicles, vessels, and equipment which is what we specialise in,’ said Ferguson.
‘No one wants to talk about dead fish but as the industry keeps growing, there will be a certain percentage of mortalities.’
This is a fact of life of farming, he said, although he understands that people are more nervous about talking about it because of recent bad press.
‘It’s about removing dead fish as quickly and efficiently as possible and collecting out at sea, at source, as opposed to the alternatives.
‘Once the road transport modular tank is full, it’s buttoned up, a security seal is put in place and away it goes. ’