The semi-submersible concept, which is a collaborative design by Aker and Norway Royal Salmon is called the Arctic Offshore Farming system - if approved it would mark the start of a joint venture between the two Norwegian firms.
Although the companies have welcomed the Directorate's preliminary decision to award the project four development licences, which will allow them to grow up to 2,995 tonnes of salmon in the system at any one time, they are disappointed not to be awarded the full 11,700 tonnes (15 development licences) which they had applied for.
As a result Norway Royal Salmon has indicated that it is considering appealing the decision.
If approved the system would, in theory, be able to produce up to 3000 tonnes of salmon per cage in more exposed conditions than those that can be withstood by standard net pens.The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries awards development licence permits to operators that develop technology and solutions that can solve environmental challenges and develop new areas for the aquaculture industry.
