Tasmania, Australia-based Huon Aquaculture announced on 2 April its new underground fish transfer system successfully transported 160,000 fish from its nursery into its new wellboat, the Ronja Storm.
According to the company’s Facebook page, the underground pipe is around 1,100 meters long and has oxygen injection manifolds visible from above ground.
“Moving our fish this way means less handling which we believe will result in better fish health and performance following the transition from freshwater to saltwater,” the company stated in the post.
Ronja Storm is the company’s newest wellboat, acquired in February. It has the capability to create freshwater from seawater through reverse osmosis via an on-water desalination plant.
The successful fish transfer was also mentioned in the April 9 Easter message of the company’s founders, Frances and Peter Bender, to their employees amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The message said that the smolt were successfully transferred to the sea from the Whale Point nursery, which is able to grow salmon to larger sizes before transferring them to sea.
The company added that growing salmon to a larger size on land improves the efficiency of the salmon’s production cycle, and reduces the time they spend at sea. The Whale Point nursery was commissioned in February 2019.
The message also touted the success of the company’s Springfield hatchery, which has been caring for 38 critically endangered giant freshwater lobster babies.
The Benders also announced that after eight months of submitting documents to various layers of government, Forest Home hatchery, which Huon began operations at in 2018, has been approved to operate at the standing biomass tonnage for which the facility was designed.
The company’s message also noted the work of its export and logistics teams, which have been working with other companies in Tasmania who have lobbied the government for freight support for export markets to enable the sending of products to overseas customers.
They also reminded the employees to stay safe and practice precautionary measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
“As we lead into Easter, we find ourselves in confronting an uncertain time. Our family, like yours, [typically] looks forward to Easter as an opportunity to spend time together, possibly take a few days off, eat lots of seafood, Easter buns, and chocolate,” the message stated. “This year will be very different for us all. We must keep ourselves to ourselves as much as possible, and for many, that will be difficult.”
Photo courtesy of Huon Aquaculture
