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With trout on the agenda

As research primarily have been focused on salmon,

This week, researchers, political representatives and other industry players were gathered at Svanøy to discuss the future for Norwegian trout farming. AKVA group showed how new technology can provide better growth conditions for trout.The Svanøy conference is hosted by the Norwegian Seafood Federation in cooperation with various industry players. During the two-day session, the participants discussed “Increasing the value creation of Norwegian trout production – what does it take?”. One of the speakers was AKVA group’s production biologist Guttorm Lange. He provided insight into the possibilities and challenges that comes with the use of deep lights and subsea feeding for trout.

“We’re experiencing a growing interest from clients who wish to control trout, both when it comes to maturation and the fish’ behaviour. Deep lights and subsea feeding have been proven to have a good effect on salmon and we’re now considering whether the technology may be partly or fully implemented for trout farming,” says Lange, who leaves no doubt that more research is needed to extract the full potential of trout farming.

“As research primarily have been focused on salmon, trout may be considered a more complicated and unpredictable species. As a technology supplier, we wish to have a close cooperation with the industry to gain more experience and knowledge on how the species react to various technology and create the best possible growth conditions. As an example, several clients are now testing the use of deep lights and subsea feeding for trout,” he adds.

According to the Norwegian Seafood Federation, the rainbow trout is popular among consumers, but still represent a small portion of Norway’s production of red fish. In volume, it does not constitute more than it did 20 years ago, when the trout production represented ten percent of the overall volume. AKVA group believes in trout production and has therefore chosen to sponsor this year’s Svanøy conference. For more information about the conference, please go to http://aqkva.no/svanoy-konferansen