Kristine Hartmann, CEO of Salmon Living Lab, and Bente E. Torstensen, CEO of Nofima, following the signing of the partnership agreement.
Photo: Salmon Living Lab.
Salmon Living Lab, SalMar's initiative to promote partnerships across the salmon supply chain and build an innovation and R&D center, announced today that Nofima is joining the project as a new partner to advance global salmon research and ensure that new knowledge is rapidly applied in the aquaculture industry.
The ultimate goal of this partnership agreement, it said, is to develop solutions that strengthen fish health and contribute to sustainable food production in the future.
The research institute thus becomes the sixth partner in the initiative, joining a salmon farming company, this is SalMar itself; a feed producer, Cargill, which, like SalMar, has been involved in the project since its inception; a university, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), which became Salmon Living Lab's first advisory partner in March this year; another research institute, NORCE, which joined in May; and a government institute, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, whose partnership was announced in June.
"We are delighted to welcome Nofima as a partner in Salmon Living Lab," said Kristine Hartmann, who has been CEO of Salmon Living Lab since August last year, when she moved on from her role as Development Director at offshore salmon farming joint venture SalMar Aker Ocean - now SalMar Ocean - to take up the position.
"The institute is one of the leading players in food and aquaculture research. We look forward to having them take part in building a global innovation and research center to close biological knowledge gaps, improve survival rates, and enhance fish welfare," Hartmann continued.
The CEO of Salmon Living Lab also emphasized that Nofima is one of Norway's most exciting research environments. "Their strong expertise in salmon biology, health, and welfare enables Salmon Living Lab to develop projects that better connect research with practice – providing the entire value chain with tools for salmon production on the salmon's terms," she concluded.
As a partner, Nofima will contribute expertise in salmon biology, fish health, and welfare to the Salmon Living Lab. The food research institute works closely with industry, academia, and government, and together with the other partners, it will help develop an open-access research and development strategy.
According to the release, the ambition of all parties involved in this innovation and R&D initiative around the salmon industry is to build a long-term strategic collaboration that will materialize through specific projects.
In the first phase (2025–2026), Salmon Living Lab and its partners seek to develop a joint global research and development strategy, while also launching specific projects. They will also identify critical needs for research and testing infrastructure, ranging from laboratories and pilot-scale facilities to full-scale test sites and digital solutions.
"It is vital for the industry to place greater emphasis on fish welfare, and Salmon Living Lab represents a forward-looking and long-awaited initiative that we are eager to help realize," said for her part the CEO of Nofima, Bente E. Torstensen.
"Nofima will contribute with our expertise to enable the aquaculture sector to set new standards for fish welfare. We firmly believe that cross-sector collaboration is key to filling knowledge gaps in salmon biology, fish health, and welfare. Salmon Living Lab is a highly relevant partnership for us," she added.
The statements made by Nofima's CEO are in line with those made by SalMar CEO Frode Arntsen last summer, calling for a better understanding of salmon biology.
"Salmon production has become a high-tech industry that has succeeded with a number of good solutions and brought us forward. There are, however, other factors that have developed in the wrong direction. Both the feed factor, the proportion of damaged fish and the mortality rate have increased. Now is the time to acknowledge the challenges and increase knowledge about salmon biology," Arntsen said then.
"We need leading knowledge in the entire value chain, right from genetics to the final product. We want to create an innovation center to improve and develop the food chain in salmon farming. Some of the results will be public, while some will be more company-specific," he added.