Two new feed barges for Cooke

The 300-tonne capacity barges, supplied by Norwegian firm Steinsvik, have been towed to Uyeasound pier, Unst, waiting to be set up in their respective sites.

One barge is planned to be used on the re-developed Balta Isle site which should be operational later this year. This recently acquired site should also be fitted with new cages from Oban-based Fusion Marine, currently being assembled near the pier.

Canadian-owned Cooke announced in September last year that it had acquired Balta Island Seafare Ltd, which has salmon farming operations around the Yell and Unst islands. The acquisition, which included three farm sites and just over 1,000 tons of salmon production, gave Cooke Aquaculture Scotland exclusive management over the northern most farming region in the UK. Cooke has 29 sites on Shetland, including Balta.

Precise monitoring

Nell Halse, VP Communications for Cooke, said the new feeding barges were part of Cooke's global investment in its farming infrastructure to reduce costs and create efficiencies to maintain global competitiveness.

She added: "Greater feed storage capacity means a reduction in the number of boats and amount of fuel required for feed delivery. Larger deliveries mean less fuel used and lower delivery costs. The technology and software employed in these feeding systems help to improve feeding and provide greater control over feeding through the collection of metrics. Together with high definition cameras and sensors, these systems ensure proper and precise monitoring of feed and help to reduce feed conversion ratios."

As part of its investment Cooke is also having a catamaran built by Malakoff Limited in Lerwick, Shetland.