Marine Harvest takes Extreme measures in Canada
Marine Harvest Canada has moved to enhance its position as the biggest salmon producer in British Columbia by signing a three-year, multi-million dollar deal for 87 new fish pens.
The 120-metre diameter high-density polyethylene circular pens, branded HD 500 Extreme, will be constructed by Vancouver Island company Poseidon Ocean Systems dealing on behalf of Danish manufacturer Hvalpsund Net.
The first orders for 29 pens have already been placed by Marine Harvest, and will be built on Vancouver Island.
Predator-exclusion programs
“The HD 500 Extreme pens are a wider and more stable platform than existing pens in use at Marine Harvest Canada, and are particularly well-suited to dual-net predator-exclusion programs,” said Matt Clarke, president of Campbell River-based Poseidon. “In addition, the pens were supplied with alternative supplementary flotation that allowed us to eliminate the use of polystyrene foam inside the float pipes, which is a nice environmental benefit.
“Our company is just two years old, but already we employ 11 full-time employees and 20 local contractors, so this contract is going to secure work for many local families.”
Marine Harvest Canada’s production director, Dougie Hunter, said: “These new cages are one part of a multi-million dollar investment to further improve our farming operations, which has also recently included feed and monitoring systems and staff accommodation. It’s great to see local businesses on Vancouver Island with the ability to supply these vital services to our company.”
Infrastructure design
Poseidon Ocean Systems Ltd is a full-service aquaculture engineering and support company, specialising in aquaculture infrastructure design, engineering, development, supply and installation.
Hvalpsund Net is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and developers of fish farm solutions.
A trading update by Marine Harvest last week reported a total Q1 harvest of 84,000 tonnes (GWE), with Canadian operations yielding 9,000 tonnes at at an average EBIT/kg of €3.35/kg. Norwegian operations contributed 49,000 tonnes at an average of €2.50/kg, while Scottish operations produced 18,000 tonnes at €3.00/kg – up from 12,620 tonnes at an average EBIT/kg of €0.68 per kg for the same period last year. Chilean operations contributed 6,000 tonnes at €1.85/kg. Faroese and Irish operations contributed 2,000 tonnes.
