When Marine Harvest, the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon, sought advice for how to improve their staff understanding of RAS technology, they turned to The Freshwater Institute for engineering expertise, best practices and hands-on training on recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS). During a two and a half-day workshop in Bergen, Norway, 37 staff members—representing six freshwater hatcheries that produce a total of 15.3 million smolts annually—learned from the Freshwater Institute’s experts on a range of topics related to RAS, including:

• RAS Engineering
• Water Quality
• Tank Design
• Waste Control
• Fish Health and Biosecurity

Guest speakers from Veolia - Kruger Kaldnes, a leading water technology company, and the Norwegian research organization Nofima, also took part in the workshop, presenting sessions on biofiltration and fish physiology, respectively.

RAS technology provides a sustainable way to meet consumer seafood needs with minimal environmental impact. Marine Harvest’s existing hatcheries have a flow-through system, which uses copious amounts of water. With RAS, Marine Harvest will be able to recycle 99 percent of the water used in the system, filter and repurpose waste, and create a controlled environment that removes risks of contamination and disease, and therefore eliminates the introduction of antibiotics, vaccines and chemicals into the process.

"The training provided was exactly what we needed to bring our staff up to speed on RAS," said Bjarte Sævareid, south region freshwater production manager for Marine Harvest. "Everyone came out of the training with a much stronger understanding of RAS technology and its benefits for the aquaculture industry."

As Marine Harvest transitions more of its production to land-based RAS they will be relying on trainings like this to increase staff knowledge and skills. The Freshwater Institute is pleased to be working with them on this effort.