Aqua Skye makes Scottish debut at organic sites
Scottish salmon farmer Organic Sea Harvest (OSH) will become the first customer of the Aqua Skye wellboat this week when the vessel visits the company’s sites to perform a freshwater treatment on its fish before commencing a long-term contract with Mowi Scotland.
OSH is growing fish at two sites – Culnacnoc and Invertote - off the north east coast of Skye, with its first harvest due in the spring.
“At Organic Sea Harvest, we keep the health and welfare of every salmon at the heart of our operation. As a part of our planned production strategy, we welcome the brand new wellboat Aqua Skye to our sites this week,” said OSH.
Non-medicinal treatment
“The state-of-the-art vessel has arrived at the Isle of Skye to perform a non-medicinal, gentle freshwater treatment to our salmon. This will be beneficial to the fish before the arrival of challenging spring conditions, including the possible presence of harmful algae in the sea.
“The Aqua Skye will make all the freshwater needed for the treatment, thanks to her onboard reverse osmosis plant.
“Organic Sea Harvest would like to thank Mowi Scotland for letting us use the Aqua Skye before she commences her long-term contract with them.”
Reverse osmosis
The Aqua Skye is owned by DESS Aquaculture Shipping, which was until recently 50% owned by Mowi. The vessel is just over 84 metres long and 16m wide, and has a net well volume of 3,900m³.
The wellboat will primarily perform treatment operations using fresh water from its reverse osmosis plant that can produce up to 4500m³ of fresh water in a 24-hour period.
It has self-cleaning fish tanks and a separate counting system. It is also equipped with a “waterfall” system for de-lousing during unloading.
