With growing focus on sustainability and fish welfare, GRAINTEC is partnering with Norway-based Ocean Farming AS in a project to bring salmon farming offshore.

The project has been in the works for a long time, as feasibility studies started back in 2012 and various technical solutions have been assessed. The outcome of the extensive studies has resulted in an offshore farming installation that combines marine biology, marine cybernetics and marine engineering with newest data technology. The facility is highly technological and supported by underwater sensors and other backing systems.

GRAINTEC’s contribution to the project lies in the equipment and systems for the distribution and receiving of fish feed on the facility. Having a slack-anchored, semi-submersible facility floating on the water poses new challenges to fish farming technologies. “It has been an exciting challenge to combine the perfect technology within the limited space we have on the facility, while keeping performance, weight and little energy consumption into consideration”, says Martin Olde Heuvel, Project Manager from Graintec. All operations for handling the fish can be performed directly on board by a crew of three to four people. 

As a subsidiary of the Salmar Group, Ocean Farming AS has been established for developing offshore salmon farming possibilities. To help fund the concept development phase, Ocean Farming AS received grants from Innovation Norway.

Production start for the offshore facility is scheduled for mid/end 2017.

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