MH’s golden egg?

“Marine Harvest has an exclusive agreement with Hauge Aqua, and the rights to the products, meanwhile Hauge Aqua own the rights to the technology,” the CEO told Kyst.no.

He adds, however, that the parties are still in an early phase of the project.

“We will first start with a pilot to verify hypotheses and theories. Then we will upscale to a prototype to fully verify the water environment in one egg,” he explains.

Hauge Aqua envisages 1000 tonnes of salmon being produced in each 20,000 m³ structure – about 1.3 times the stocking density that is currently used in open net pen cages.

“The 1000 tonne goal is based on studies showing that the optimal density of fish is much higher in a controlled environment than with the current pen technology,” says Aarskog.

And while other companies, such as Salmar, are currently looking into developing systems to allow for farming further offshore, the egg technology appears to be targeting increased production in the  fjords.

“If the technology proves to eliminate lice and escapes as well as prevent particulate emissions it would indeed allow us to use the fjords to the fullest,” Aarskog reflects.

The company has applied for as many as 14 development licences in a bid, Aarskog argues, to both justify the high initial investment and to show how environmentally sustainable the systems are over a larger area.

“However, pursuing the project on such a scale is,” Aarskog insists, “dependent on the success of a pilot project.”

It is by means the first closed containment system that has attracted the company’s interest, but Aarskog explains it has a number of advantages over other concepts – pointing to the concept’s strength and shape; the fact that the egg is completely closed and not exposed to sea spray from surface by bad weather; the water flow potential; and the possibility of waste removal.