Plenty in the tank
The ambition is high for land-based farming projects around the world.
Investment in land-based salmon farming is taking place globally, from South Korea and Japan to Norway and north-eastern US. So far, however, Scotland has been left out of the rush to bring salmon farming onshore. Despite investment in state-of-the-art hatcheries and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facilities for the smolt stage, the idea of managing the whole cycle from hatch to harvest without the fish ever entering the ocean has yet to take off.
Andrew Robertson, Chief Executive of FishFrom Ltd, aims to change all that. He argues: “Scotland is a fantastic place to have a RAS salmon farm. The annual average ambient seawater temperature, around 12°C, is ideal.”
Less than three years ago, the company’s plans for a RAS salmon farm at Tayinloan, on the Kintyre peninsula on Scotland’s west coast, were well under way. The plans were for a facility with an annual capacity of 3,600 tonnes.
Customers had prepared letters of intent to purchase salmon at agreed prices – a prerequisite of funding. Then, however, Covid-19 arrived. The uncertainty was such that it was not possible to sign such guarantees and the deal fell through.
Now, the company aims to build a smaller-scale facility to demonstrate proof of concept before scaling up to match the scheme’s original ambitions. Tayinloan is an ideal site, Robertson maintains. It was previously a flow-through fish farm and still has some key consents, including for water abstraction.
Being based in Scotland, with its established salmon sector, means access to existing transport, distribution and feed supply networks.
” Scotland is a fantastic place to have a RAS salmon farm
The farm will use beach wells for its water intake, with the seawater naturally filtered through sand, rather than drawing water from the open sea. Robertson explains: “It’s water that is already percolated and filtered. We will then filter it ourselves and treat it with UV [ultraviolet], but it’s already very clean.”
Being next to the sea and having water at the right temperature also reduces the energy cost, he argues. As a RAS facility, its energy usage will still be quite high, but when it reaches full scale the idea is to use renewable energy from adjacent wind turbines and solar panels situated on site.
Seeing the light
FishFrom has also struck a deal with the University of Trento, in Italy, which has developed a new filtration technology based on light and ozone: “photocatalytic ozonation”.
As well as helping to keep the fish safe and healthy, the filter system is intended to eradicate the trace bacteria of geosmin and 2-MIB, which can give fish reared in RAS systems a muddy flavour.
As the University of Trento explains: “The key to our work is the ability of light to activate a semiconductor, which in turn triggers a series of radical reactions that lead not only to the complete degradation of pollutants, but also to the removal of pathogens such as viruses and bacteria.
“Our study shows that the photocatalytic ozonation system for water purification is an excellent ally for developing sustainable landbased aquaculture, in recirculating systems. In this way, we protect inland and marine ecosystems, which are currently threatened by intensive farming [operations] that have a high environmental impact and make extensive use of antibiotics.”
Robertson says: “The system is easily scaled and retrofitted to existing systems, or provided as an independent unit for new installations. We are seeking to patent the processes of this technology.”
The RAS system itself, Robertson says, will be from an as-yetunnamed, but tried-and-tested, supplier. It is expected to reduce the level of suspended solids down to 5mg/litre, a very high level of purity.
The proposed prototype facility would be stocked with smolts from a third-party supplier for grow-out to harvest size, but the plan for Phase 2 is that the company will control the whole process from egg to harvest.
Why not stick with the flow-through system? Robertson argues that, while companies such as Salmon Evolution are showing that this technology can work, “you are still potentially open to whatever the sea can throw at you.
“Clinically, we will have the benefit of being in complete control of, for example, temperature and the water filtration process.”
That should mean there is no need for expensive treatments to tackle sea lice, viruses and other pathogens.
What happens next depends on funding in a business environment still rather shaken up by the inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Robertson is hopeful. He says there are a number of pledges already, but the project still needs a lead equity investor.
While the high-profile challenges faced by certain land-based fish farmers have spooked some investors, Robertson maintains: “There have been some good stories as well. We think we can produce fish commercially just as well as in the sea.”
Salmon in Sweden
“We wanted the oceans to rest. So we built our own.”
That is the slogan and the sales pitch presented by RE:OCEAN, which is building a land-based salmon farm at Säffle, Sweden.
The RE:OCEAN facility, which will handle the entire cycle from hatchery through growout to processing and smoking, is planned to produce 10,000 tonnes annually by 2026.
The project is supported by Sweden’s three leading wholesale companies – Axfood, Coop and ICA – as well as power company Schneider Electric. In December, the European Investment Bank also announced that it is to invest 530m Swedish kroner (SEK) (around £42m) in the project.
Chief Executive Morten Malle says construction is planned to start after the summer and the first phase is expected to take about a year.
AKVA Group will be delivering the RAS technology and Benchmark Genetics has been selected as the supplier of eggs. Schneider Electric will be RE:OCEAN’s main partner supporting energy optimisation. The aim is to power the plant using renewable energy.
Why build a land-based salmon farm in Sweden, with the world’s biggest salmon producer just across the border?
Malle explains: “When we decided to enter this venture, our focus was to solve a few major global and local challenges, as well as producing first-class fish. We focused heavily on sustainability and how to reduce climate impact, and how we could use technology to let the oceans rest.
“This led us to the conclusion [that we should be focused on] land-based fish farming., so we created a sustainable ecosystem on land.”
Market research indicates, he says, that Swedish consumers will be very positive towards home-grown salmon: “Sweden is currently importing a large portion of the salmon consumed here and we want to change that.”
Malle also has wider aspirations: “We
” We focused heavily on sustainability and how to reduce climate impact
believe the global market has room for us as well.”
The site at Säffle was chosen because of its access to clean water. Using freshwater rather than having an intake from the sea reduces the risk of introducing pathogens, Malle says.
Further, its location the middle of Sweden means its customers will be no more than six hours’ drive away.
Mall adds: “Lake Vänern has a longstanding tradition of salmon farming, and we want to set the production of the future in close proximity with the knowledge and traditions of the past.”
By including processing, filleting and smoking as integrated elements in the plant, RE:OCEAN aims not only to operate more sustainably with less reliance on road transport, but also to maintain control over quality.
RAS farming is an energy-hungry process and, like all those in the sector, RE:OCEAN has had to recalculate its costs in the light of the energy price hikes over the past year. Malle is confident, however, that the impact of increased energy costs has now been taken into account.
In the shadow of Mount Fuji
Japanese consumers pay a premium for fresh salmon air-freighted from Norway and elsewhere, but they should before too long have the option to enjoy sushi and sashimi made with fish reared much closer to home.
Proximar Seafood is developing a landbased salmon farm at Oyama, at the foot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, and last month the company announced that the facility’s first batch of Atlantic salmon juveniles had started to take feed.
The transfer of Proximar’s first-generation fish to the start feeding department marks a milestone for Proximar’s production team, after the first eggs were successfully inserted in the company’s hatchery in October.
The batch will stay in the first feeding area for around two months, before the next transfer to the nursery. Two more egg batches have arrived and, the company says, all is going according to plan.
Construction on Proximar’s RAS facility started in March 2021. The coming year should see ongoing installation of equipment in the nursery area, which will be commissioned in early March, while the grow-out building is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter.
Project CAPEX (capital expenditure) is in line with previous communication at levels around NOK 200/kg, based on target production capacity, the company says.
Chief Executive Joachim Nielsen says that the spike in energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already been taken into account: “We do have exposure to the energy costs and have [taken this into account] in our forecast. We are actively working on how to secure better visibility, including solar panels on our own roof to bring down the average cost per kw.”
The RAS technology is being installed by Israeli company
AquaMaof. Nielsen says the choice of supplier was based on AquaMaof’s proven track record in design and water treatment capability, and the success of its land-based salmon farm in Poland, which has been running as a salmon farm for five years.
Nielsen goes on: “Simplicity and low complexity are important aspects, reducing sources of failure and the need for maintenance, and with a lesser requirement for specialised skills to operate and maintain it. We believe low complexity is an important key for operational success.”
Why a land-based farm? Japan is a big market for salmon, but the species is not native to that part of the world, while rugged geography and high summer water temperatures mean Japan’s coast is not ideal place for salmon. Japan’s regulatory regime would also make it hard to obtain permission for fish farming at sea or in rivers and lakes.
The choice of Oyama was driven partly by its proximity to greater Tokyo, with a population of 38 million people within a oneto two-hour drive, as well as its ready supply of high-quality drinking water.
Nielsen says: “We have received strong support from the local municipality and prefecture.”
By 2027, Proximar expects the plant to reach its full annual production volume of around 5,300 tonnes.
Maine events
The state of Maine, in the north-eastern corner of the US Atlantic coast, has seen mixed fortunes for the businesses looking to raise fish in land-based farms
As reported in previous issues of Fish Farmer, The Kingfish Company has made good progress in clearing the various planning and regulatory hurdles for its proposed farm near Jonesport, Maine.
In October, the Jonesport Planning Board gave initial approval for Kingfish’s local building permit. The permit conditions were formally approved and adopted in a final meeting of the board in late November of last year.
The Kingfish Company is planning to build a RAS facility with the capacity to produce between 6,000 and 8,000 tonnes of yellowtail kingfish.
Meanwhile, it’s also been good news for Nordic Aquafarms, which is looking to build a salmon farm near the town of Belfast, Maine, and has faced a degree of opposition.
Like The Kingfish Company, Nordic Aquafarms has faced its share of campaigners and hostile lawsuits. Its initial permit application was drafted in its final form back in 2019. Last September, the company fought off an appeal over the permits it has been granted only to face yet another legal battle, this time over title to the intertidal mudflats that will be crucial in supplying the facility’s seawater.
The company won that case too. Spokeswoman Jacqueline Cassida says: “We are now awaiting the Supreme Court
(Law Court) ruling regarding the intertidal lawsuit. That is the very last stop in the courts process and once we have that, we’ll be proceeding with our construction and engineering plans.
“Production won’t happen this year, as we’ll just be breaking ground in the fall. It’s been a bit of a journey, but we are pleased to have had the opportunity to make strong connections within our community, working with local schools, and supporting local events and workforce development programmes.”
Nordic Aquafarms is also looking to build a RAS farm in Humboldt County, California. Cassida says: “We are in the midst of the permitting process. We had received two approvals in August 2022 – the Coastal Development Permit for Terrestrial Development and the California Environmental Quality Act.
“Currently we’re looking for approval from California’s Department of Fish & Wildlife for salmon, as well as our Air Quality Permit. We should be having a hearing in May or June regarding the Ocean Outfall part of the Coastal Development Permit. Lots of work yet to be done there!”
The progress comes despite the departure of the company’s President and co-founder, Erik Heim, and his wife, Executive VicePresident Marianne Naess. The pair surprised industry observers when they quit in July, and they have since formed their own aquaculture consultancy, Xcelerate Aqua. Nordic Aquafarms’ new Chief Executive is Bernt Olav Rottingsnes.
The ambition and determination are clearly there in RAS ventures internationally. Now, the world waits to see which of them will deliver a profit.
” Simplicity and low complexity are important aspects