"Our joint ambition is to further improve both animal welfare and their commercial results. We have turned every stone and employed our best biologists and engineers to develop a very gentle fish handling system,” says Cflow CMO, Gunnar Hoff
Photo: Salmon Evolution.
Norwegian specialist aquaculture supplier Cflow has announced it has a secured a major contract with Salmon Evolution, currently the world’s largest land-based fish farming facility.
As part of the agreement, Cflow, which supplies both the aquaculture and fisheries industries, will deliver fish handling technology for Salmon Evolution’s second-phase expansion at Indre Harøy, Norway. The development will see the land-based aquaculture firm increase its production by 10,100 tonnes of head-on-gutted (HOG) salmon, bringing the facility's total capacity to 18,000 tonnes annually.
Cflow’s role in this expansion includes manufacturing all equipment, including piping, valves and pumps, at the company’s facility at Langevåg outside Ålesund, Norway, and managing commissioning at Salmon Evolution’s Indre Harøy facility. The firm will also deliver technical solutions for fish logistics between the facility’s pools.
This technology, Cflow says, will ensure optimal fish welfare and sustainable production, with equipment deliveries starting in early 2025 and continuing through 2026.
“Salmon Evolution’s second phase build-out represents the next exciting chapter in Cflow’s land-based future,” said Gunnar Hoff, Chief Marketing Officer at Cflow in a press release.
“We have worked hard to prepare next generation’s fish welfare for land-based aquaculture. Salmon Evolution can already demonstrate highly impressive biological results, but our joint ambition is to further improve both animal welfare and their commercial results. We have turned every stone and employed our best biologists and engineers to develop a very gentle fish handling system."
Cflow has described the contract as "strategically important" for the firm, but has not disclosed the contract value.
Gunnar Hoff, Chief Marketing Officer of Cflow.
In addition to Salmon Evolution, Cflow is also partnering with Andfjord Salmon on a similar project in Andøya, where the aim is to increase production to 8,000 tonnes HOG by 2025 and eventually 40,000 tonnes by 2030.
Hoff added, “Both Salmon Evolution and Andfjord Salmon have achieved industry-leading biological results, with good fish health, low mortality levels, and high superior share. That precisely these two players choose Cflow’s solutions for their next build-out is a great vote of confidence."
As Norway updates regulations for land-based aquaculture, Cflow is optimistic about the market potential and the future of the industry.
“Updated regulations for land-based aquaculture in Norway are finally on the way, so we are seeing that things are starting to move in this market,” said Hoff.
“We decided five years ago to focus on land-based fish farming, which represents another way of working compared to ship deliveries. There is a lot of engineering work upfront and delivery schedules that stretches up to a decade ahead in time," he added, noting, "This creates strong predictability and excellent opportunities for both long-term employment and value creation for the supply chain."