Small biomass allowance granted for barge fish farm
A proposal to build a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) salmon farm housed on a purpose-built flat-bottomed barge has been granted development permits by Norway’s Fisheries Directorate.
The eight-year permits – two for 780 tonnes and one for 73 tonnes - will allow developer Albatros Technology to grow a total of 1,633 tonnes of biomass.
Albatros, based in Zwijndrecht in the Netherlands, originally applied for nine development permits (equivalent to 7,020 tonnes) for 10 years to its “AquaBarge” concept. The application was rejected because the Directorate felt that it didn’t meet the requirement for “significant innovation”, but that decision was overturned on appeal.
Scaled-down version
The permits are for a scaled-down version of the AquaBarge called the Basic Module. The concept is suitable for sheltered locations and will be stationary with four anchorage points. According to the applicant, the concept’s main goal is to have no harmful impact on the environment and the best achievable fish health and fish welfare.
The steel barge, which will not have its own motive power, will be 120 metres long, 56m wide and 22m high. The plant will have two floors with tanks for fish production. The fish will be introduced as smolts and grown to harvest size.
67 weeks until harvest
All necessary systems for operation will be installed on board the barge, except for the main power supply, which will come from a land connection.
The main systems are the support structure for the modules, ballast tanks, harvest system, loading areas, safety and escape routes and the production facilities which comprise four stages - smolt system, post smolt system, pre-grow out system and grow out system. This has a total of 12 tanks with a total production volume of 29,280m³.
Fish will spend 16 weeks in each of the first three production stages and 19 weeks in the last (a total of 67 weeks). A new stocking will be made every 16 weeks.
