© Ace Aquatec
A collaboration between aquaculture technology specialists Ace Aquatec and start-up Tiny Fish aims to advance the Scottish salmon industry’s circular economy by helping the sector gain access to new premium food markets for its smallest fish.
Scottish salmon farms have an approximate monthly survival rate of 97 to 99 percent throughout their lifecycle, with the fish lost each month commonly being composted. However, through their new collaboration, Ace Aquatec and Tiny Fish hope to alter this fate, culling smaller fish and marketing them as a premium food product.
Under the collaboration, a selection of smaller fish will be removed from the farm population during the salmon’s freshwater phase - the first year after hatching - whilst the larger salmon continue to be raised at sea to a market size of about five kilograms.
“This initiative is an opportunity to demonstrate the commitment of the Scottish aquaculture industry in driving sustainability across the harvesting process, from producer to supply chain. I take pride in Tiny Fish’s part in this and our commitment to using every fish harvested. I am optimistic that we will contribute significantly to enhancing sustainability across the sector as a whole,” said Tiny Fish's Teresa Garzon, in a press release announcing the collaboration.
Ace Aquatec will provide its Humane Culling System for the removal of the fish, whilst Tiny Fish will harvest, collect, freeze, package and store the small salmon. The companes aim to distribute the value-added product to restaurants, hotels, takeaways, zoos, aquariums and pet food suppliers across the UK, aiming to make “every fish count” in the aquaculture industry.
Amongst the partnership’s freshwater clients are seafood giant Mowi and Landcatch. Mowi has already seen positive outcomes, as some of their smallest fry and parr have been utilised for human consumption and pet food production.
“This is the best solution in the market in terms of animal welfare standards and environmental impact. It’s great to see companies working together to set a new sustainable standard for the rest of the industry to follow to improve everyone’s environmental footprint and more importantly ensure companies are using the fish for value-added purposes,” said Jarl van den Berg, general manager of Landcatch Natural Selection.
The Tiny Fish and Ace Aquatec partnership has been shortlisted for the “Collaboration” category at the Aquaculture Awards 2024, the winners of which will be announced in Aviemore on May 15th.
