Introduction
The fast growth of aquaculture in recent decades has relied on several innovations (Asche, 2008; Kumar & Engle, 2016). Today, the need to achieve environmental sustainability is a strong driver for technological innovations (Osmundsen et al., 2020). To promote sustainable aquaculture and encourage relevant technological innovations, the Norwegian government launched free “development licenses” for salmon (Salmo Salar) production in 2015 (Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, 2016). The industry responded by suggesting many different new farm concepts, providing a highly interesting insight into which directions the industry believes marine salmon production may take in the future (Føre et al., 2022).
Materials, methods and results
A systematic content analysis was performed to establish a base for investigating the technological directions proposed in the development license applications. The main material applied in the content analysis was the response and decision letters from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries (NDF) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to the 104 applications for in total 884 development licenses.
By September 2021, 23 applications had been awarded, 78 had been rejected, and three applications had not received a final decision by the NDF. The awarded applications corresponded to 111 production licenses with a total maximum allowed biomass of 84,134 tons.
Categories of farm concepts were established based on observations in the applications for development licenses, including (listed by descending number of registered applications): Closed sea-based fish farms, conventional PE-rings, semi-submersible platforms, and rigid floaters. As many as nine closed farms concepts were awarded (39% of total awards), but only two PE-ring concepts (9%). Semi-submersible platforms and rigid floaters were the two concepts with the highest success rate in the allocation process: In both these categories, five of nine applications were awarded, representing 61% of the total allocated biomass.
Most suggested innovations were concerned with the prevention of sea lice infections, and all awarded concepts had measures against sea lice. According to the response letters, 70% of the applications and 87% of the awarded concepts involved specific measures against escape. 20 out of 23 were considered to contribute to the use of previously unsuitable locations (very sheltered and open ocean sites), or the increased sustainable utilisation of existing areas for aquaculture (coastal).
Some of these awarded concepts have been realized, followed by both success stories and challenges. Fish farmers report that they experience less parasitic sea lice on their fish, high water quality and optimal temperatures. This has for some resulted in good growth numbers, feed conversion factors, fish survival, and product quality. On the downside, fish escapes, demanding operational conditions (HSE-issues), and suboptimal water quality has also been reported. Time will tell which concepts will succeed in the long term, and if any will be able to compete with the currently dominating PE-rings. The development indicate that the future may include a variety of different concepts that are specially designed for environmental and biological conditions at the given sites.
References
Asche, F. (2008). Farming the Sea. Marine Resource Economics, 23(4), 527–547. https://doi.org/10.1086/mre.23.4.42629678
Føre, H.M., *, Thorvaldsen, T., Osmundsen, T.C., Asche, F., Tveterås, R., Fagertun, J.T., Bjelland, H.V., (2022). Technological innovations promoting sustainable salmon (Salmo Salar) aquaculture in Norway. Aquaculture Reports 24(2), 101115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aqrep.2022.101115
Kumar, G., & Engle, C. R. (2016). Technological advances that led to growth of shrimp, salmon, and tilapia farming. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, 24(2), 136–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/23308249.2015.1112357
Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries (2016). Retningslinjer for behandling av søknader om utviklingstillatelse til oppdrett av laks, ørret og regnbueørret (guidelines for processing of applications). Accessible at https://www.fiskeridir.no/Akvakultur/Tildeling-og-tillatelser/Saertillatelser/Utviklingstillatelser
Osmundsen, T. C., Amundsen, V. S., Alexander, K. A., Asche, F., Bailey, J., Finstad, B., Olsen, M. S., Hernández, K., & Salgado, H. (2020a). The operationalisation of sustainability: Sustainable aquaculture production as defined by certification schemes. Global Environmental Change, 60, 102025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.102025