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THE development and management of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) is key to the future of fish farming, Allan Lyons, risk management surveyor for Sunderland Marine Insurance, told Fish Farmer.. Dublin based Lyons cut his teeth in the mid 2000s working in the then newly emerging technology in Australia and in the UK. He has been surveying farms worldwide for Sunderland Marine over the last 11 years.
‘I’ve seen everything from the multi-million dollar sites, right down to systems with only a couple of tanks and a second hand pump,’ he said.
RAS has been used to rear salmon smolts for many years, producing significantly more fish than flow through systems, using the same amount of water.
The reliability of equipment and increased efficiency enables farmers to locate near markets and avoid air transport costs (possibly also avoiding trade tariffs!)
In the past, species such as tilapia and trout were grown to market size in RAS systems, but growing salmon to market size was not viable, for a number of reasons, said Lyons.
These include the large size of a marketable salmon, which means a much larger standing biomass in the system; the higher cost compared to traditional cage farming; the perceived higher risk of mortality events in RAS farms; and a poor flavour profile in RAS produced fish.
Modern RAS farms are being built which can now address these issues, meaning the farming of market size salmon in RAS farms is a fast growing sector of the industry.
Improved technology has led to more reliable and cheaper equipment. Static probes monitor almost every parameter the farmer needs. These can be
linked to computer controlled systems which can be accessed remotely from anywhere in the world using Internet of Things (IoT).
The highest risk period for RAS is the start-up phase, during the initial 12 to 18 months of production. Systems have become so large and complex that design and operating issues will inevitably occur. Ideally, proper monitoring and alarms will pick up on these issues before they result in large losses.
But accidents do still happen, said Lyons.
RAS reared fish typically have much lower medicine use than fish grown in traditional systems as diseases can be prevented from entering the system through good biosecurity protocols. However, if disease does somehow manage to get into the system, then it can be very difficult to stop it spreading through the entire site.
Despite the significant advances in equipment and monitoring, the number one risk factor in RAS is often still human error, believes Lyons.
‘Properly trained staff is at the core of every successful RAS,’ he said.
A farm can have all the monitors and alarms in the world, but the staff must be able to understand exactly what issues can arise and know how to react.
‘Having proper protocols in place goes a long way to preventing problems occurring and, if problems do occur, preventing them resulting in mortality events.
‘Good staff can spot a potential issue long before any alarm sounds, the fish themselves can also signal a problem through their behaviour, and staff should be able to pick up the early warning signs.’
Historically, insuring RAS farms has been a difficult task, but with modern systems, well trained staff and good risk management, these systems are now insurable as stand-alone entities instead of as part of larger farming enterprises.
Lyons told Fish Farmer: ‘When we visit RAS farms, we like to see healthy, happy fish which are growing well. We want to make sure that all equipment is maintained properly by well trained staff and there are ample back-ups within the system and spares on site are readily available to be installed by competent people.
‘We also want to see that the site staff have a full understanding of water quality and that there is comprehensive monitoring in place.’
Looking to the future, pressure from environmental groups means that there is a growing market for salmon farmed in RAS allowing competition with traditional farming systems.
‘It is likely that RAS may become the only viable way to produce smolts for salmon farming due to production and environmental pressures,’ said Lyons.
For the medium term, this will likely remain the main use of RAS and will be the driver for much of the technological advances and increased availability of training courses for staff.
Despite improvements, RAS farming is still a relatively risky operation compared to traditional farming systems and this is reflected in current insurance premiums.
Full production of salmon in RAS will continue to grow as the market demands. It will be a long time before full RAS production comes close to the levels of production of traditional cage production farming, but at its current pace of growth and investment, soon big cage farming companies will be looking over their shoulders at these potential market disruptors.
‘With increased, significant and continued technology advances and acceptable insurance results, it is probable that premiums will reduce for RAS in the future,’ said Lyons.
‘As climate change affects the cage culture environment more, it may not be too long before we see parity in the insurance rates of RAS and traditional cage farming due to changing risk profiles.’
For further information, contact Allan Lyons, risk management surveyor at Sunderland Marine Insurance: allan.lyons@sunderlandmarine.com (www. sunderlandmarine.com)
“With increased, significant and continued technology advances and acceptable insurance results, it is probable that premiums will reduce for future” RAS in the