Hjelmås, Norway-based Hauge Aqua Solutions produced its first Egget floating closed-containment system farm on 12 May.
The first prototype, a 21-meter-tall, 15-meter-wide unit made from sandwich-structured composite and able to hold an estimated 100,000 salmon, was produced at the Herde Kompositt factory in Ølve, Norway. It is now being prepared for sea trials and functional testing, and will eventually be put into operation by Vikebukt, Norway-based salmon-farming and biotechnology firm Prophylaxia AS in Romsdalsfjord, Norway.
“Egget is the answer to the demands on the salmon-farming industry from a new generation,” Hauge Aqua Solutions Founder and CEO Cato Lyngøy said in a press release. “The salmon is kept in a fully enclosed, strong, and long-lasting production structure that keeps the salmon in and the sea lice out. It also provides the salmon with a controlled environment with the best conditions for fish welfare and optimum farming performance”.
Lyngøy, the former group manager of technology and environment at Marine Harvest – now Mowi – said the introduction of the first unit into the water represents its official launch into the commercial marketplace, with the company officially rebranding its Egget production and sales division to Ovum.
“The name change shall prepare our technology company for international expansion and mass production as an independent enterprise. First for the salmon industry, but later also for other high value species,” Lyngøy said.
Ovum is now working to fulfill its first five orders for full-scale versions of Egget, which will stand 44 meters tall and 31 meters wide, and have a capacity of up to one million salmon.
“[The Egget] represents an entirely new solution to the major problems of the salmon-farming industry – sea lice, escape risk, organic sludge, and efficient use of area,” Lyngøy said. “We are aiming for a better life for the salmon inside the egg, but also for the wild salmon outside the egg.”
Photo courtesy of Hauge Aqua Solutions
