The norwegian salmon farming indsutry is endelssy facinating. Such a young industry has grown from the invention of floating open net pen cages in western norway in the 50s to a 1,4 million tonne export in 2020 worth approximately 7 billion dollars.
Due to the technical and biological challenges of food production in the sea as well as the environmental and social pressures to transform the industry, it is now one of the most innovative food production sectors in the world.
Digitalization and AI counting of parasites [0], lasers to remove lice [1] and huge offshore installations to minimize coastal impact [2] and crispr sterilized fish [3] are some examples of innovation happening right now in the sector.
Yes, they try a lot of stuff. I worked in the library of what is now NTNU Ålesund when I studied, and I remember coming across books about some long abandoned experiments, such as "havbeite", sea grazing. The idea was that they would just release young farmed fish and catch them later. A lot of crazy ecological recklessness like that, but also a lot of creative attempts to do the right things (prevent escapes, minimize antibiotics use and minimize suffering and damage from salmon louse).
Due to the technical and biological challenges of food production in the sea as well as the environmental and social pressures to transform the industry, it is now one of the most innovative food production sectors in the world.
Digitalization and AI counting of parasites [0], lasers to remove lice [1] and huge offshore installations to minimize coastal impact [2] and crispr sterilized fish [3] are some examples of innovation happening right now in the sector.
[0]: https://aquabyte.ai/ [1]: https://www.stingray.no/delousing-with-laser/?lang=en [2]: https://www.salmar.no/havbasert-fiskeoppdrett-en-ny-aera/ [3]: https://www.hi.no/en/hi/temasider/aquaculture/editing-the-ge...