With a strong emphasis on red- and white-fish production across Scandinavia, especially in its native Norway, as well as in Iceland, the United Kingdom and other close markets, marine and aquaculture technology provider Nomapro AS has seen the demand for its solutions increase as the market pays closer attention to driving cost-efficiencies, the company’s CEO Asbjørn Tøssebro told WF.
Established in Norway in 2020, Nomapro AS was started by two companies as a joint-venture to produce two new products. One of these founding firms had developed a new software that very accurately measures the biomass in fish farming systems, while the other had developed the nanoICE technology, which while aimed more at the fisheries sector can also be used in the processing sector, such as with farmed salmon to “supercool” the fish.
Tøssebro was brought in as Nomapro’s CEO and he quickly determined that there were a lot more opportunities in the market. Consequently, a new washing system for mooring systems and feeding pipes were developed. At the same time, the new business acquired some good partners with different technologies and expertise.
“These have complemented our product portfolio and provided us with additional growth strategies – in both the fisheries and aquaculture markets,” Tøssebro explained. As such, Nomapro’s strategy has shifted, whereby the aim is to be an aquaculture solutions partner – providing the systems supporting fish cage production, whilst also increasing the quality of the fresh fish throughout the value chain through the use of the nanoICE technology.
Advanced tech
There is, Tøssebro said, a strong sustainability effort with all Nomapro products. This is alongside the principle to make life easier for end-users.
“We want to deliver solutions for customers where they can lower their operational costs, and at the same time have a strong focus on health and safety.”
With regards to the technologies it is providing, Tøssebro gives the example of Nomapro’s latest feed camera, which makes it possible for fish farmers to feed their fish one-to-two times more within a 24-hour cycle. Needing only 0.0002 lux to be able to see the fish clearly, it provides the scope for increased growth and/or less time at sea in the fish cages.
Its nanoICE solution, meanwhile, delivers ice particles so small that that 150 crystals would fit on the tip of strand of human hair. This, he said, gives “exceptional consistency” in the supercooling process for fresh fish and shellfish.
Another product that it maintains high hopes for is its BIO5000 biomass camera. According to Tøssebro, the software that it utilises is amongst the best in the market to-date.
While the camera’s hardware needs some extra development to meet Nomapro’s own quality standards, he thinks it will be a “game-changer” in terms of biomass population control when it is soon relaunched into the cage farming sector.
Meanwhile, in the fisheries sector, the company is currently working with fishing boat owners to develop a new light buoy system for light-fishing in the dark hours of the night, with the idea to lower the sector’s operational costs and increase its efficiency. This solution is expected to be ready for market this summer and has a huge global potential, Tøssebro said.
Nomapro is also a distributor of the Mariscope ROVs.
“We will soon have a portfolio of several products – all helping to improve the industry in different ways.”
Market expansion
Northern Europe isn’t the only region to recognise the benefits of the current solutions, and earlier this year, Nomapro signed a Mediterranean distribution agreement with Turkish company OctoAqua. This was after seeing that its nanoICE machines were already being well received in the region.
OctoAqua’s 20 years’ experience selling Norwegian technological products into the marine aquaculture space meant the deal gives Nomapro a faster, lower cost route into this specific market area, while also minimising the risk that comes with a young company entering new regions, Tøssebro explained.
“It is the way forward for us. OctoAqua is able to take care of sales and the production of supplementary products. It will also provide a good after-sales function and service for the products in our portfolio,” he said. “Together OctoAqua and Nomapro will place a strong focus on the after-sales and service elements – we believe this will make us stand out from the competition so that customers choose us as their technological solutions partner.”
Similar agreements in other regions are expected in due course as part of the wider growth strategy, but Tøssebro underlined that Nomapro’s overriding goal to help its customers achieve their own sustainability goals will remain.
“Through new technologies it’s possible to improve the cost-efficiency and sustainability of fish production. We want help these businesses reduce their use of resources and thereby lower their operational costs. And not least, we want to help them generate less waste in their value chain,” he said.
