A group of industry members have kicked off a new project managed by Akvaplan-Niva to improve the aquaculture production methods of spotted wolffish.
The new plan, funded by Norway’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Industry Research Fund (FHF), has been dubbed OPTIFLECK. The plan consists of a partnership between companies like Amar Seafood and Aminor – two producers of spotted wolffish – and Nord University and UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
Avaldsnes, Norway-headquartered Amar Seafood and Aminor are the two leading producers of spotted wolffish in the world. The spotted wolffish, Anarchichas minor, is a bottom-dwelling species which has historically been caught as bycatch but, according to Aminor, is uniquely suited to being raised via aquaculture.
Amar President Knut Trellevik told SeafoodSource in July that the total aquaculture production of wolffish is under 100 metric tons, but the company is working to expand its production at its land-based facility in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.
The new OPTIFLECK initiative is working to make that increase a reality. According to a release from Akvaplan-niva, the goal is to optimize production methods and protocols for the stable production of spotted wolffish fry.
“The knowledge to be generated in the project will primarily be of use to existing industry players but, in the long term, could lead to more players establishing themselves in this part of the aquaculture industry,” Akvaplan-niva said.
Akvaplan-niva said a team of researchers from both universities and both companies will perform trials and experiments at its research and innovation station in order to optimize fry production and make commercialization of the species easier.
The project is slated to run over the next three years, Akvaplan-Niva said.
