Closed aquaculture researchers share knowledge gained in 8-year project

The results of eight years of research into closed aquaculture systems have been distilled into 42 fact sheets that are now available as a free online resource.

From 2015 until March 2023, Norwegian research institute Nofima hosted the Centre for Research-Based Innovation (SFI) in Closed-Containment Aquaculture – CtrlAQUA.

The main goal of CtrlAQUA was to develop technological and biological innovations that will make closed systems a reliable and economically viable technology, and a lot of knowledge was gathered.

Nofima wants the research to have practical use and has prepared fact sheets (in English) with recommendations for production of salmon in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) and semi-closed systems in sea.

The fact sheets give a quick insight into the most valuable highlights from CtrlAQUA, although Nofima points out that the highlights and recommendations are presented without much information on the premises behind the research.

Deeper information

“We therefore encourage you to seek more and deeper information if you find the content interesting and want to implement the research in your production. You can do that by seeking the information in the “Read more” list or contact the lead scientist,” writes Nofima on its website.

The fact sheets are divided into three sections: relevant for RAS; relevant for semi-closed systems; and neutral or applicable to both technologies.

They cover subjects such as the optimum water velocity for Atlantic salmon post-smolts in RAS, optimising CO₂ degassing, UV requirements for inactivation of viruses, bacteria and sea lice, and automatic on-site real-time identification of any disease in fish and production water.

All 42 fact sheets have also been gathered in a pamphlet, which can be accessed online here.

NB! If you click on a link below and get an error message with the text "403 forbidden", click F5 or otherwise "refresh" the page, and the fact sheet will appear.