Facility and equipment

The cages

The facility grows out the fish in net cages directly in the reservoir. The cages are of the same type previously used in Norwegian salmon culture. These have been replaced in Norway due to their comparatively small size and cost inefficiency considering the large scale and intensity of Norwegian culture sites.

The largest are 10 cages of the "Polarcirkel" type (polyethylene(PE) pipe) with a circumference of 40 m., but there are also 3 wood-frame pens supported by pontoons. There are also some cages of the very first type used in Norwegian salmon culture, often called "Sterner cages", which splay the nets using steel tubing supported by buoys. All cages are moored to a floating jetty with boardwalks for easy access.

	The Sterner cage (pdf)
	Photos of the cages and related equipment
	Overview of the cages Overview of the cages 2
	The Polarcirkel cage

Feeding plant

The facility has a new pneumatic feeding plant of the AkvaMarina type. The plant and feed hoppers are situated indoors on land, with flexible hoses to distribute the feed to each cage. This system is only used on the bigger cages, while the smaller ones still utilize individual automated feeders.

	Photos of the feeding system
	The Akva central feeding system

Transportation and grading

The facility grades the fish during the entire production process, initially into several size grades, and finally grading out for slaughter size. A vacuum pump is used to transport the fish up to a grading machine (both installed on a mobile raft), and the fish are returned to the cages by gravity. To crowd the fish for grading, the net bag is gradually lifted in order to restrict the available volume. The grading machine used is called a Melbu conveyor grader, and it has electronic fish counters installed in each grading outlet.

	Photos of the feeding system
	Interview an employee (no/se language) Interview an employee 2 (no/se language)