Scaling up

Fermentation scientist Lis Vivas with fermenter

Bacteria are being put to work, extracting the useful elements from harvested seaweed, as Robert Outram reports We’re in the John Coulson Building at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, watching macerated sugar kelp spinning furiously in what looks like a sophisticated food processor. The aim of the exercise is not, however, to create a nutritious seaweed smoothie.…

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Safe to eat

The latest round of testing shows that Norway’s farmed fish are still safe for consumers, as Vince McDonagh reports Farmed fish is free of illegal substances and safe to eat, research by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research has found. The organisation carried out the work, which mostly took place in 2022, on behalf of…

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But where are the lice?

Loch Linnhe

Modelling for the supposed prevalence of sea lice is not backed up by samples taken in the field, says Dr Martin Jaffa Congratulations to the Fish Farmer magazine team for hosting their first Aqua Agenda webinar, which took place in January. The subject was fish health (see the report starting on page 46 of this…

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The great masquerade

Fish farm salmon round nets in natural environment Loch Awe Arygll and Bute Scotland

Salmon Scotland Chief Executive Tavish Scott addresses the blurring of the lines between activism and journalism, and highlights the desperate tactics of anti-salmon campaigners Our sector has hundreds of brilliantly talented biologists, veterinarians, hatchery technicians and environmental scientists who deliver the highest standards of animal welfare anywhere in the world. The innovation that has developed…

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Seeing through the glass ceiling

Breaking through the glass ceiling graphic

Tackling unconscious choices can help us ‘banish’ bias from aquaculture, argues Heather Jones There was a wonderful moment in the BBC’s The Traitors – no spoilers here for those who still haven’t watched, I promise – when host Claudia Winkleman spotted a trend in the contestants who were being removed from the game. The three…

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Taking on the challenges

Aqua Agenda logo

Climate change and other factors keep throwing up new threats to fish health, as our expert panel explained in Fish Farmer’s Aqua Agenda webinar. Robert Outram reports THE PANELLISTS  Dr Iain Berrill Head of Technical, Salmon Scotland Dr Iain Berrill has always had an interest in the marine and freshwater environment. He studied a BSc…

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Sea lice research at VESO Aqualab

Egg bearing female salmon lice

Sea lice – a point of focus VESO is a world leading contract research facility, committed to the conduct of state-of-the-art trials with fish and fish pathogens. Our main focus is on know-how regarding host-pathogen interactions and on conducting experimental challenge procedures with the pathogens that commonly affect aquaculture of cold-water species. A particular point…

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What shall I talk about?

Salmon fillets with Nick Joy cartoon logo

There’s hardly been any news about farming, so what on earth can I talk about? With French farmers dumping God knows what on their parliament and Brussels trying to fend them off the EU, there’s hardly anything interesting going on. Yet the media are finding it hard to cover. Occasionally they mention the green agenda…

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Nordic Aqua on track for first Chinese harvest

Norwegian company Nordic Aqua Partners, which is developing a land based facility in China, has reported a good operational performance in the fourth quarter of last year with construction works for Stage One completed on time and on budget. The biological performance was good for all batches – with strong growth, a mortality rate below…

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Vónin Scotland lands £955K for new aquaculture net facility

Vonin image

In a significant advancement for the Scottish aquaculture sector, Vónin Scotland Ltd, a leader in aquaculture services and supplies, has received £955,000 in funding from the Scottish Government. The grant will contribute towards the large investment required to develop a comprehensive facility for the maintenance, cleaning and treatment of fish farming nets. Vónin’s new operation…

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