St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada-based East Coast Innovation announced the upcoming launch of its new fish loading technology, SmoothMove, which is designed to move large populations of fish quickly and safely.
“The SmoothMove fish loading device was precision engineered to improve the critical interface between the fish population and the fish pumping system during transfers,” East Coast Innovation CEO Joel Halse said in a release. “Using the SmoothMove, we are able to load fish at lower densities and at a more consistent, desired rate. When the fish are kept in a calm state, it makes it faster and easier for farm and vessel crews to move the population. With the SmoothMove, we aim to transform all crowding events into safe handling events by eliminating the population’s exposure to risk.”
In a release, East Coast Innovation called the technology the “world’s first purpose-built fish loading device,” and said a patent for the device is currently pending. The technology has been trial tested and validated during commercial harvests in Norway onboard a Napier harvest vessel, and has been used full time in that country since 28 January 2026. East Coast Innovation reported that the technology is consistently loading over 4 million kilograms of salmon per month with no operational downtime.
"Throughout the test period with SmoothMove, we have seen positive aspects related to fish behavior,” Napier COO Kåre Andreas Cederström said in a release. “Fish are calm throughout the process, making loading operations efficient.”
East Coast Innovation said the company has worked on this project’s research and development since 2020 and spent millions on the continuous observation of fish behavior through prototype trial runs. Those trial runs took place in New Brunswick, Canada, and Scotland, performing the strongest last year onboard the Norwegian Gannet. At the end of 2025, the Gannet’s operator, HavLine, ended operations, and East Coast Innovation partnered with Napier and Mowi.
“We are especially grateful to Napier, Mowi, and their crews for taking an industry leadership role by supporting the validation trials and working together to bring the world’s first fish loading device into fulltime operation for harvests in Norway,” Cederström said in the release. “We are pleased to have signed our first contract for the SmoothMove.”
Fish health testing will continue by welfare experts, the release said, with preliminary results showing a positive effect on fish health in tandem with the SmoothMove product.
