A stunning victory
Dingwall-based Ace Aquactec was presented with the inaugural Aquaculture Innovation Award during last night’s Aquaculture UK gala dinner.
The company has been garnering serious interest from the global aquaculture industry for a range of innovative products, not least its Hume Stunner Universal (HSU), which is able to stun up to 75 tonnes of salmon per year.
Heather Jones, CEO of the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC), told Fish Farming Expert: “They were the unanimous winner, the company has so many impressive and innovative ideas – their seal scarers, stunning machine and biomass counter – which are relevant not just to the Scottish industry or just the salmon industry, but also to other aquaculture sectors around the world.”
Ace’s Nathan Pyne-Carter collected the award and explained to Fish Farming Expert the benefits of the HSU: “We’ve been trailing the HSU for the last year and, while we originally had some issues with haemorrhaging, we’ve now got it down to less than 1% and the systems have now been launched commercially.
“Scottish Sea Farms are using one of the machines at their South Shian processing plant, while The Scottish Salmon Company are set to install one at their plant in Stornoway.
“Models have also be sold to Marine Harvest and Cooke in Canada, Nireus in the Med, Salmar in Norway, as well as companies in Denmark, Chile, Germany and Japan.
“There are a number of advantages to the stunner: the fish don’t have to be handled, its capacity is only limited by the pump size, the fish don’t have to be directed and it can cope with any size and species of fish. It means that species such as sea bass, sea bream and tilapia, which previously died on ice, can now be killed quickly and humanely.”
Indeed, the design has been approved by the Humane Slaughter Society and is also attracting interest from retailers.
“Tesco and Sainsbury’s are pushing for their suppliers to use it,” Nathan says.
