Norwegian land-based salmon farming company Gigante Salmon has confirmed that it has joined a new collaborative research project alongside Fishbase Group, LetSea and TESS, which is looking at the properties and effects of nanobubbles on fish production and their farming environment. Research organisation SINTEF is also onboard.
Following years of research into how best to optimise land-based production, and recognising that oxygen redemption is one of the most critical factors for optimal growth and fish health, LetSea launched the project with SINTEF’s support.
Nanobubble equipment supplier TESS, post-smolt producer Fishbase Group, and Gigante Salmon are the project’s industry partners.
Being carried out this spring, the project has a budget of NOK 2 million and is 50% supported by the Regional Research Fund Nordland. It is expected that once published, the results will benefit the entire industry.
TESS has supplied a number of installations with nanobubble equipment, especially in the US market. It has also provided the solutions to a number of different industries in Norway.
“For us, it is important to document the effects that oxygenation with nanobubbles can have,” TESS Segment Director, Jan Eric Haagensen, said. “We believe that nanobubbles will also have a broad application in the Norwegian fish farming environment.”
According to the R&D partners, oxygenation with nanobubbles could have a number of effects that contribute to better economy, fish welfare and the environment.
With nanobubbles, oxygen consumption is reduced, as well as energy consumption due to the equipment’s simple operating needs, they explained, adding that the nanobubbles behave like charged particles with neutral buoyancy in the water and a more even distribution and less loss to the atmosphere is achieved.
Meanwhile, better growth has been documented, while studies indicate that oxygenation with nanobubbles results in less biofilm on the vessel walls and degradation of algae toxins.
“LetSea and SINTEF are collaborating on a number of land-based projects where fish welfare and nutrition in combination with the aquatic environment are central,” LetSea Research Leader, Henriette Hansen, said. “For us, it is important to explore new technology that can develop future salmon production with sustainability and fish welfare in focus.”
Based on a flow-through system, Gigante Salmon’s first production facility is under construction at Lille Indre Rosøya, in Rødøy.
Eirik Sørgård, Chairman of both Gigante and Fishbase, said the two companies are focused on fish welfare, the environment and the economy.
“Gigante Salmon is in the establishment phase and wants to use new solutions. Fishbase Group will expand its operations and optimise existing production. It is therefore natural for the companies to collaborate on this type of project,” Sørgård said.
He added, “Gigante Salmon will produce on the basis of a flow-through plant, while Fishbase Group uses recycling in parts of its production. It will be exciting to see if the use of nanobubbles has different effects for the two forms of production.
