Technology: The way forwards to growth

by Erik Hempel, The Nor-Fishing Foundation

Aquaculture has been practiced for thousands of years. And yet, it is only in the last four or five decades that we have seen any technological innovations of significant importance. Traditional methods have been practiced, often handed down from father to son.

With the emergence of salmon farming in the 1960s and ‘70s, a new type of fish farmer appeared. He had no previous knowledge of fish farming and had to learn by trial and error, but he also sought help from local veterinarians and scientists.
 

When the first disease outbreaks occurred, veterinarians and pharmaceutical companies were quick to get to work on solving the problems. And since the fish farming community was very small, “everybody knew everybody else” and the fish farmers worked directly with veterinarians and scientists.

Technological development is driven by several factors, including economic, environmental and regulatory factors. The most important driver is perhaps the economic aspect. If an innovation leads to cost reductions or income increases, it will have a much better chance of attracting development funding.

But conditions vary from country to country. In salmon-producing Norway, labour is a high cost, and much innovation has therefore been directed at reducing the need for labour, with great success. From 1985 until 2018, Norwegian salmon production increased by a factor of 43, but employment in the sector only increased by about 50 percent. In other countries, such as China for example, labour is cheap, and innovation is consequently directed at other factors, like more efficient feeds, genetic development through breeding programmes, or disease prevention.

Read the full article in International Aquafeed magazine, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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