Nordlaks’ Hydra heads for home
Nordlaks’ latest innovative project, a futuristic semi-closed production tank for salmon farming at sea, is coming home. It should arrive in Norway within the next two weeks.
The new containment system, known as Hydra or the “Storbåts egg”, has been under construction with the Turkish shipyard group Gemak, for the past three and a half years.
The Hydra is designed to prevent lice and harmful microbes, which mostly move in the upper layer of the sea, from getting to the fish.
The Storbåts egg (the name is taken from the mountain Storbåtsegga in Hadsel municipality) has also been developed to prevent fish escapes, as all materials in the construction have a completely different strength than today’s farming cages with open nets.
The sea tank consists of a submerged sealed, cylindrical structure with a floating element on top and a closed roof. The tank is sealed down to a depth of around 20 metres so that it protects the fish from lice and diseases that move in the surface water.
At the bottom, between 20 and 27 metres, the tank is open to the sea. At the bottom of the structure itself are fixed guide vanes, i.e. inclined ribs, which naturally guide seawater in and out of the tank. This ensures continuous water circulation and replacement, so that the fish get fresh, oxygen-rich water without surface water being drawn in.
A manually controlled water exchange system, adapted to the strong ocean currents at the site, ensures continuous access to fresh, oxygen-rich seawater. At the same time, the open bottom construction ensures that fish excrement is distributed naturally with the ocean current.
The result, says Nordlaks, is a robust and innovative solution that ensures good fish welfare with a reduced risk of lice, disease and escape , and is thus an important step towards a sustainable and more future-oriented fish farming industry.
Hydra is scheduled to be released at the Sørvika site in Hadsel municipality in Norway. Fish will not be released into the tank, which holds 86,700 cubic metres, until the spring.
With this, Nordlaks will have two steel giants in its salmon production. The Stokmarknes farmer already operates the offshore sea farm “Jostein Albert”.
Nordlaks acquired the Hydra Salmon Company II AS almost six years ago. Prior to the takeover, Hydra had been given four development permits for the development of the “production tank” concept.
Nordlaks had took on the development project and began working to realise the production tank in line with the commitment from the Directorate of Fisheries.
Nordlaks said the technology is an important contribution to the further development of the company and to the technological diversity in the aquaculture industry.
The company said: “By realising the Hydra project, Nordlaks will develop expertise in the design and operation of semi-closed concepts as well, with expected benefits both in terms of escape and biosecurity, particularly against salmon lice.”
CEO Eirik Welde added: “The idea behind the concept is to utilise the comparative advantages for salmon farming that you have in Norway, and at the same time to use technical solutions to address environmental challenges such as salmon lice.
“This is also a good solution from a sustainability and fish welfare perspective. When we take over this development project, Nordlaks is simultaneously embarking on a new and interesting development track.”
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