Fiizk wins order for its biggest ever cages

The Certus 30000 cages for Norwegian salmon and trout farmer Osland Havbruk each have a volume of 30,000m³, twice the capacity of the largest systems Fiizk has previously delivered.

Osland Havbruk, which farms in the Sognefjord north of Bergen, plans to be the first fish farmer in Norway to grow salmon to harvest size in SCCS. Other farmers have used SCCS for post-smolts and for broodfish.

Water intakes

Fiizk’s SCCS includes a rigid steel floating collar and a bag made of an industrial PVC fabric - produced at Fiizk’s factory at Frekhaug – that encloses the production volume. A net installed inside the PVC bag acts as double protection against fish escapes.

Eight independent seawater intakes, pump water from beneath the lice layer – the top 10 metres of the water column - into the production volume. The cage environment is continuously monitored and documented by a sensor network. If necessary, oxygen is added automatically. The control and management system ensures automatic operation, and an in-built alarm system will alert the operator in the event of deviations from the norm.

Fiizk said that in addition to the delivery of the cages, the parties will commence a close working relationship to monitor system operation, fish health and optimal fish performance.

Osland general manager Erik Osland and Magnus Stendal, business developer for closed cages in Fiizk) say in a joint comment that they have high expectations for the delivery based on the broad experience the parties already have separately in closed farming at sea.

Loch Long

The cages ordered by Osland Havbruk are among options being considered by Loch Long Salmon, which is planning to produce 4,000 tonnes of salmon annually at a site at Beinn Reith, Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland. The company plans to install four 30,000m³ SCCS and a floating, semi-closed harvest station if get gets permission for the project.

Loch Long Salmon’s semi-closed cages would differ from those used in Norway because waste would be collected and pumped ashore for treatment.