Fish Farm International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gigante Havbruk, has applied for a permit to build a land-based farm in Northern Norway.
The 10,724-metric-ton (MT) maximum permitted biomass (MTB) facility will be built at Verholmen, in Norway’s Nordland region, located inside the Arctic Circle.
Gigante Havbruk, founded by Kjell Arild Lorentsen and wholly owned by the Lorentsen family, is already investing in land-based salmon farming, through its 60.5 percent share in Gigante Salmon, which started work in September 2021 on a 20,000-MT facility at Lille Indre Rosøy in Rødøy municipality. Construction will take around two years, smolts are scheduled to be introduced in 2023, and the first harvest is expected in the second half of 2024.
According to plans for the Verholmen site, which are available for public consultation for the next month on the Meløy Municipality website, the new farm will consist of eight open-air longitudinal raceways, measuring 215 meters by 60 meters, covering most of the small island of Verholmen.
The application outlines the benefits of the system chosen by Gigante Havbruk, which the company said will prevent issues such as sea lice, escapes, or pollution. Seawater will be pumped from a depth of at least 15 metres, which is below the depth at which sea lice larvae are found. The uni-directional propellor-controlled flow in the raceways, together with sludge panels, are designed to enable optimal sedimentation of waste, which can easily be removed, according to the company. Underwater robotic cleaning machines will also be used to keep the raceways clear of algae build-up.
Production from both land-based farms will feed into Gigante Havbruck’s existing supply chain. The company has an ownership stake in the Salten Aqua group, which conducts broodstock and smolt production, operates a harvesting and processing facility, and has a sales arm. Additionally, its wholly owned subsidiary Gildeskål Research Station conducts research and development, and is currently looking into the feasibility of farming at exposed aquaculture cage sites.
Photo courtesy of Gigante Havbruk
