Launch of Hofseth's Havliljen, or "Sea Lily" deep farming facility.
Photo: Hofseth
Norwegian salmon producer Hofseth has launched a large submersible cage designed to keep fish below the upper water layers where sea lice are most prevalent, in an attempt to reduce infestations and limit the need for treatment.
Hofseth said the 62-metre-diameter structure, known as Havliljen, or "Sea Lily", has been built and launched in western Norway and will be used for salmon production at its Vindsnes site in Storfjord.
The submersible aquaculture facility can be lowered to around 15 metres below the surface using a hydraulic winch system connected to a 270-tonne bottom weight.
The project is operating under two development licences originally awarded in May 2020 by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries to Nekst AS, a technology company which is majority-owned by Hofseth.
“The development licenses give us the opportunity to test new technology at full scale while contributing to sustainable growth in the industry. These solutions involve high risk and substantial investments, but they may provide important answers to how we can implement new technology and reduce sea lice pressure. The knowledge we gain will be shared with the industry -- that is a clear condition of the license,” said Ole Nordal, the company’s project director.
“We have already gained valuable experience with commercial deep farming at our Bugane site in the Storfjord. Havliljen represents the next step, where we are testing a new structural solution based on different technical principles. This provides us with valuable and comparable experience,” he added.
The structure was built at Havila’s shipyard in Hjørungavåg, with between 20 and 30 companies contributing to its construction. Among them was BAUTA Maritime, whose founder and production manager, John Arve Sundet, said the project "has provided valuable professional development and experience for everyone involved."
"The collaboration with Nekst and Hofseth has been characterized by open dialogue, trust, and a shared goal of finding the best solutions. It is inspiring to work on a project where all parties are pulling in the same direction,” he added.
As previously reported by WeAreAquaculture, Hofseth recently announced progress on another technology project which also aims to tackle sea lice, in addition to other challenges, beginning construction on its first closed sea-based production systems based on Ovum's "The Egg" concept, following several years of pilot trials and design work.
If the project proceeds as planned, the first closed containment aquaculture unit will be stocked in early 2027, the company said in December.