What’s on the technological horizon for salmon aquaculture?

Norway’s salmon sector could be on the verge of experiencing large-scale offshore aquaculture structures as it transitions from net pen production near the coast – at least if technological trends in the country’s development permit scheme materialize. The Development Permit Program is designed to address the industry’s economic and sustainability challenges by encouraging new agricultural technologies. A closer look at the approved innovations can give industry insiders a better picture of the future of aquaculture technology.

In the year According to a new paper Aquaculture reportsNorway’s salmon sector can adopt closed-catch solutions and robust marine machinery as its main production methods. These innovations help curb the negative environmental impact of groundwater by reducing agricultural emissions. They also target larger production volumes, allowing farmers to operate at a profit.

The Norwegian Atlantic Salmon Industry

Atlantic salmon is the second most valuable landed species and Norway is the leading producer of the commodity. Since the sector’s inception in the 1970s, salmon farming has become one of the most knowledge- and technology-rich industries in the world. The Norwegian industry also has significant economic investment to generate several sub-sectors focused on salmon genetics, superior health, nutrition and environmental sustainability.

Although aquaculture advocates often tout their low-emission animal protein levels, farming operations still come with environmental and economic problems. Atlantic salmon are usually farmed in open cages in sheltered bays. Although this allows producers to achieve impressive amounts of biomass, open cakes pose biosecurity and ecological risks. Pollution from faeces and feed residues has negatively impacted the local ecosystem, with fish escapes and sea lice interfering with wild salmon populations. Farming costs such as labor and equipment are also on an upward trajectory, which could erode profit margins in the coming years.

Until now, the Norwegian salmon industry has relied on technological innovations to stay one step ahead of ecological and fish health challenges. The country has established a strong management and control structure for the sector. Environmentally sustainable practices are encouraged, and the structure helps implement new agricultural technology. Norway is currently seen as an innovation hub – and it wants to maintain this status as consumer demand for farmed salmon continues to grow.

Aquaculture Development Permits

In the year In 2015, the Norwegian government launched the development permit scheme. These licenses were different from standard commercial licenses – focused on technology rather than production volume. The program is designed to encourage new technologies that help solve livestock land use and environmental challenges. Special attention is paid to designs and equipment that reduce sea lice levels, eliminate fish escapes, and improve pollution. The priority was disruption – not an improvement on existing technology.

The plan was to balance the economic needs of Atlantic salmon with mitigating environmental constraints. Instead of requiring applicants to pay a commercial permit, which can cost between $15 million and $25 million, applicants who successfully meet the innovation and sustainability requirements of a development permit can convert it to a standard manufacturing permit for $1.1 million.

Regulators hoped this would support the industry’s innovation efforts. It has been ineffective for the sector to fund its own research and development efforts – meeting the deadline requires huge initial investments and serious technological and biological risks. In some cases, the aquaculture innovation push was considered “too risky” for private investors to prosecute. Development consent was a way to overcome existing market constraints.

What innovations are on the horizon?

The researchers reviewed more than 100 applications for development permits – paying particular attention to applicants’ novel production methods, farming concepts and sustainability solutions. Technologies that reduce groundwater discharges from coastal areas have received significant development approvals. New measures to reduce fish escapes have also been approved. This suggests that salmon production is moving in two different directions: towards more robust open ocean basins and towards closed production areas in fjords.

The technology licensed under the plan shows that the Development Permit Board favors large water bodies. Hatchery volumes – and thus finished biomass – are raised above current levels. Depending on the permits, the researchers believe that farming methods and tools will be more diverse. The current production model may not be the industry standard where farmers put net pens in coastal waters. The researchers noted that the location of the farms played an important role in the innovations under evaluation.

Technologies that have received development licenses are developed for three main production areas: sheltered beaches, offshore and open oceans. Closed farms – or establishments that use bags or tanks as barriers to sea lice, escape, pathogens and contamination from feces and feed residues – are permitted in sheltered and coastal areas. This means that firms operating in these areas invest in technology that gives them greater control over the production environment. According to the researchers, this shows a pivot towards “biological manufacturing” – producing fish would be akin to a bio-safe assembly line. Open indoor systems may be ineffective in fjords.

Projects on the open ocean have prioritized innovations that make kayaks able to withstand loads from waves and waves. More than half of the development permit applications in this category have proposed semi-circular platforms or rigid floats with littoral nets. Given the success of these designs at the evaluation stage, the Norwegian regulator of the researchers considered these concepts to be extremely innovative. These containers have high biomass potential – suggesting that the capital intensity and financial risks of these designs are a barrier to private investors.

The researchers pointed out that the emerging farming methods need to develop and deploy more technologies. Aquatic feeding systems, integrated feeding boats and heavy engineering solutions are essential for aquaculture to thrive at this new level – companies that provide the technology can play a major role in the industry’s growth.

The policy perspective

Regulators seem to be paying more attention to shorelines and ecosystems when evaluating potential water development projects. Standards are being adjusted to reflect different production considerations for open ocean and coastal environments. This suggests that regulators are willing to consider greater diversity (and cost) of product licenses. However, this also means that manufacturers may face additional requirements and regulation in the future.

The researchers believe that this regulatory position has the potential to expand the marine areas available for farming. It also allows producers to experiment with and adopt a wider variety of subsurface production technologies. Cultivating new varieties may also be on the cards. The authors suggest that the new farming technology could be used for non-salmonid species – allowing farmers to diversify water supplies.

For offshore development permits, regulators require producers to integrate with the outside environment. Hence, emphasis on fish escape barriers, collection of fish waste and prevention of parasites. Improving fish welfare is also a priority. In practical terms, this may mean greater reliance on farm technology and less on manual handling.

Going beyond Norway

Although these developments will lead to a more productive and environmentally sustainable salmon industry, it is important to remember that these concepts must be economically viable to break the status quo. Profitability is not a given given the regulatory burden of the salmon sector. Many of the concepts put forward to the Development Permit Board will take years to test and fully implement. Industry watchers will have to wait for innovation and economics to align.

The researchers predict that such trends could spread beyond Norway and the salmon industry. Most of the innovations come out in a few centers before they spread to other fish species and producers. Aquatech solutions rarely stay in one place. If grown and adopted in Norway, they can be found in other subterranean breeding areas within a few years – depending on local conditions and/or different species. A closer look at Norwegian development permits provides insights into what aquaculture’s future production technologies and priorities might be – and how the industry plans to achieve them.

Read the entire paper Aquaculture reports.