PhD Fellow René Alvestad at Nofima successfully defended his doctorate at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) earlier this week. His work involved analysing a very large production dataset sourced from a commercial salmon producer.

Cermaq has now started the third round of salmon production in closed containment systems, without having to delouse.

With the pace of new land based salmon facilities being build, one can get the impression that there are few challenges remaining with RAS technology. However, the increasing number and size of plants are incentives for solving sustainability challenges for the technology provider Krüger Kaldnes.

Gene editing is a technique that Nofima has adopted in several of its aquaculture research projects. Here is some information about why and how Nofima uses this technique, along with references to some useful information for readers who would like to know more.

Experiments conducted at Nofima show that salmon smolt that eat feed containing hydrolysed krill will eat considerably more and their weight will increase during their first days in the sea.

Young men from the UK are more negative towards aquaculture, according to a recent consumer survey conducted in five European countries. They were also among those with the least knowledge about aquaculture.

As kelp aquaculture is a relatively new industry in Norway, and in many parts of Europe, there are many challenges to overcome before production can increase and become commercially viable. Active cultivation sites in Norway are scarce and concentrated towards the southern and mid-coastal regions; however, kelp farming also shows great potential in northern Norway. Therefore, researchers at Nofima are currently focusing on sustainable value creation from kelp production in northern Norway.

Breeding salmon for growth or resistance to sea lice in cold waters may have little effect if the offspring grow up in warmer waters.

Vasco Mota is becoming one of Norway’s foremost RAS scientists; land-based, closed-containment aquaculture systems using recirculated water. After completing his PhD and spending four years actively researching this field, the Nofima scientist is absolutely certain that RAS technology will play a key role in the future growth of aquaculture.

Do Pacific salmon species carry a secret they could share with Atlantic salmon? What is it in the genes that make these relatives of Atlantic salmon less susceptible to lice? Researchers will now find the answers to these questions, using the gene editing method CRISPR-Cas9.