Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries approved eight development licenses submitted by SalMar's subsidiary, MariCulture, for its Smart Fish Farm concept and rejected three applications by Arctic Seafood Group for the development of its Intelli-Aqua concept.
According to the directorate, the Smart Fish Farm concept is a comprehensive solution for open-sea farming.
The decision grants eight permits of 780 metric tons of maximum permitted biomass for the duration of five years. The company originally applied for 16 licenses.
The directorate rejected the application of Arctic Seafood Group for three development licenses for its Intelli-Aqua project, a concept aimed at reducing sea lice impact by keeping fish at a depth of between 10 and 15 meters.
To achieve this, the concept includes a raising and lowering air snorkel with a cylinder-shaped frame, and two rings to supply oxygen to the fish.
In addition, a sensor system is necessary to monitor the welfare of the fish. According to the directorate, the sensor system is not covered by the term of the application, and appears to be independent of the snorkel lid, while both systems can function independently.
“The Directorate of Fisheries has come to the conclusion that the requested project does not meet the requirement 'to develop technology' with regard to the sensor system," said the assessment notification.
