September 17, 2020

 

Loch Long Salmon innovates salmon farming in Scotland

 

 

Loch Long Salmon Ltd. (LLS), a joint-venture salmon farming company, announced its plan to introduce semi-closed production systems in Scotland.

 

Five farming locations have been identified by LLS to deploy the semi-closed farms to grow fish from smolt through harvest size. The first farm will be in Loch Long, Scotland – at a site called Beinn Reithe.

 

With the aim to improve the health and welfare of its farmed stock, these semi-closed systems are designed to prevent sea lice from establishing a breeding population on the salmon. The farming enclosures will separate the fish from the ocean by surrounding the farm with an impermeable bag.

 

Deepwater that is free from juvenile sea lice and harmful planktons will be pumped into the farming enclosure via energy-efficient low-head pumps. Oxygen will also be added to the water as required.

 

Additionally, the system will catch most organic waste, pump it ashore and concentrate it into a valuable resource – potentially for use as an on-land fertiliser or in anaerobic digestion energy production.

 

 "Semi-closed systems have been used in Norway for more than eight years, and have shown success after many farming cycles," said Stewart Hawthorn, an LLS director and former farming director of Dawnfresh Seafoods Ltd.

 

"Our philosophy is that we should eliminate rather than treat the problem – and we can do that with these systems," Hawthorn said. "By using this type of farming system, we will have healthier fish that do not need to be constantly treated for sea lice. This means that the fish can be left to grow in a stress-free, clean environment."

                          

Hawthorn told SeafoodSource that the plan is to have maximum allowed biomass (MAB) of 4,000 tonnes at the site. LLS have been granted a Crown Estate Scotland Lease Option Agreement and have also completed the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) pre-screening process.

 

"We will apply for the CAR (Controlled Activities Regulations) discharge license later this year and then the formal planning application will be submitted in 2021," Hawthorn added.

 

Beinn Reithe's farm construction will start in 2022, with the initial stocking in the first quarter of 2023 and the first harvest will be early 2024. The plan is to get the fifth farm working in the second quarter of 2025.

 

LLS entered into an agreement with Johnston Carmichael – a corporate finance advisory firm, to assist in raising the first tranche of ₤3 million (US$3,883,800) to support the initial phase of development. The company was established by aquaculture services company Trimara Services in partnership with Simply Blue Aquaculture, part of the blue economy developer, Simply Blue Energy, to be Scotland's first fully-integrated salmon farming business exclusively using semi-closed farming systems. The objective is to establish a company that can raise 15,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes of salmon annually.

 

"Based on the site development plan, we will be harvesting planned biomass on a consistent annualised basis by the end of 2024, or beginning of 2025," Hawthorn said.

 

He added "while LLS has not developed a detailed sales and marketing plan at this stage, its financial model is based on achieving average returns for commodity fish."

 

"However, we will have a unique product that will likely be able to be sold at a premium, based on the improved sustainability credentials of our farming process. This will generate additional revenue for the business, but this is not required to make the commercial success of this venture," he said.

 

"The capital investment required to set up a semi-closed farming system is approximately twice the cost of a similar capacity conventional farm," Hawthorn said.

 

"We will also have some additional energy costs and oxygen costs that conventional farms do not have, as we are pumping water into the system and adding oxygen to maintain ideal conditions at all times for the fish."

 

The savings associated with the elimination of sea lice from its farming enclosures will offset the additional costs.

 

"We won't have any direct treatment costs – no well-boat costs, no chemical costs, no cleaner fish costs, etc. We also won't damage or kill fish during treatment processes – because we are not doing any sea lice treatments. So that will be an additional saving. Finally, we will get better growth and food conversion ratio because we are not starving fish before treatments and because we are not stressing fish during treatments," Hawthorn said.

 

"Overall, our cost of production will be similar to that currently being achieved in the Scottish salmon farming sector."

 

- SeafoodSource