Friday, 10 August 2007
NAFC MARINE CENTRE LAUNCHES NEW FINFISH CAGES
This morning (Friday 10 August) saw the launch of two fully contained blocks of six individual square plastic cages from Blacksness Pier in Scalloway by the NAFC Marine Centre. The finfish cages are the first of this particular style in Shetland and have been designed for experimental trials at the Centre’s fish farm research site ‘The Lea of Trondra’.
Developed and supplied by Fusion Marine, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fish farming equipment, the cages each measure six metres square – with walkways all around - and have been produced with funding support from the UHI Research and Development Funding Grant. Funding has also been received from Shetland Aquaculture who will be taking an active role in prioritising research activities on the site.
The cages will initially be used for research on salmon – in particular, vaccine and feed trials – but work on new species will be introduced in the future, including trials investigating the use of wrasse as a biological lice treatment.
In response to the question ‘what makes these cages special?’ NAFC Marine Centre’s technical manager of fish farming, Stewart Sales, said: “It is the physical size of the cages that makes them so unique. These cages have been deliberately made very small to be used specifically for trials.
“The cages are also square, rather than circular, making them very easy to work with and compact in design. The walkways all around the cages add to the usability.
“This morning, we towed the cages out to the NAFC fish farm research site at ‘The Lea of Trondra’, using our own fish farm boat, the Crest, and now that the structures have been anchored down they will be in situ for the foreseeable future.
“The trialling facility is something that has been on the agenda for a number of years, but it was only last year that we secured the funding to go ahead with the purchase.
“The project, which will be of considerable benefit to the aquaculture industry, is very much in its early stages. We will be listening to and working with the industry in Shetland to take it forward. It is particularly beneficial to the local industry that the research will be carried out in Shetland waters, rather than in Norway or the west coast of Scotland. With very different conditions here, our work should present a more accurate picture relative to local operations.”
David Sandison, general manager of Shetland Aquaculture, is very supportive of the development. He said: “Shetland Aquaculture will provide a liaison group to prioritise the projects, find in-kind support and be a partner for any joint funding bids needed to bring in additional resources. Our members will supply fish, feed, additional equipment and manpower to back up the NAFC Marine Centre’s resources.
“We see the Project Trials Unit as a facility to carry out focused feed trials, vaccine trials, test innovative products, measure and monitor environmental impacts of new innovations, investigate new aquaculture species, as well as polyculture – the growing of more than one species in an integrated site area.”
Further information:
For further information, please contact: Kenny Gifford, NAFC Marine Centre, tel 01595 772408, email kenny.gifford@nafc.uhi.ac.uk or visit www.nafc.ac.uk
Or, Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465 or email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com