Bigger tanks result in faster fish growth

The EU Aquaexcel project involving the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (Nofima) is in the process of finding out what factors are required to customise growth conditions for fish.
"Our objective was to allow the fish to grow to a size of 700 grams, but it grew so quickly that it weighed 1 kilo before we had reached the end of the test period. Growth in the biggest tanks was faster than in the comparison fish which were out in the commercial facility", relates Åsa Espmark of Nofima.
She emphasises that the trial appears to demonstrate that the fish has a physiological potential to grow faster. Now it remains to find out whether this can be transferred to commercial conditions in modern open pens.
Long-term development is moving towards multiple closed-in pens.
"The industry is highly geared towards closing fish in, even outdoors. At the moment, many external factors affect aquaculture performance, including lice, algae, temperature and other environmental factors", says Espmark.

Developing aquaculture laboratories

The research project Aquaexcel2020 is now moving into a new phase, and is starting to look for even more variables that could affect the growth and health of fish.

The project is continuing the work of a previous project that facilitated virtual collaboration, in which researchers from different countries could perform and monitor experiments on fish in locations other than their own.
"The immediate benefit of this to wider society is that in this industry, facilities implement developments on the basis of results that often originate in conditions that are different to those in which they themselves are operating. We are performing a number of tests aimed at optimising trial conditions, and assessing whether research in controlled, small units is representative of commercial conditions", says Espmark.

Norwegian version, click here