Image crossover meeting Source: kyst.no
By: Therese Soltveit
Will break the barriers between subsea and aquaculture
– We are constantly looking at the opportunities for crossover activities between subsea and the aquaculture industry. It is important to have a larger contact surface between the industries, says Cato Lyngøy, founder of Hauge Aqua and member of NCE Seafood.
Cato Lyngøy was among the approximately 30 participants who attended when the Seafood Cluster NCE Seafood, Deloitte, Hordaland County Council and GCE Subsea yesterday arranged a networking meeting between companies in the aquaculture industry and technology companies in oil and gas.
After visiting Lerøy's hatchery in Bjørsvik and then the food fish location in Tepstad, both in Lindås outside Bergen, the subsea companies gained insight into the aquaculture industry and the technology used. For several, this was their first visit to a fish farm.
Cato Lyngøy, founder of Hauge Aqua, believes crossover business is the way to go.
– Crossover opportunities
Cato Lyngøy from Hauge Aqua, Ragnar Joensen from Marine Harvest and Anne Hilde Midtveit from Lerøy Seafood Group all gave presentations on the need for bridging the gap between the industries, and expressed a desire for more expertise and technology development for the aquaculture industry.
– We are constantly looking at the opportunities for crossover activities between subsea and the aquaculture industry. It is important to have a larger contact surface between the industries, said Cato Lyngøy enthusiastically.
Tanja Hoel, general manager of the seafood cluster, tells kyst.no that she hopes they can now break down barriers and find common interests. She points out that it is important to expand the expertise and technology that the oil industry has developed.
– Bringing in new types of technology is essential, Hoel told kyst.no.
Anders Kalleberg from Deloitte AS wanted to find out in advance of the workshop how quickly the subsea industry can deliver solutions to aquaculture. Around 13 of those present said that they already have solutions that the industry could greatly benefit from.
During the workshop, they were able to reflect on what the Subsea companies have seen and experienced during the company visits, and give their views on the technology.
The discussions during the workshop were engaging and the topics varied. Among other things, the spread of infection, escapes and technological development were important topics that were addressed. Photo: Therese Soltveit.
They quickly summarized the results of the workshop at the end of the day and the conclusions were positive.
A foot in both oil, gas and aquaculture
Gunnar Birkeland at Uni Research Polytech believes they can contribute knowledge.
– We have had one foot in oil and gas, and one foot in aquaculture for a long time. From a research perspective, we can contribute more knowledge. Increasing knowledge for management is important, he says.
He points out that it is important to understand how much the site can actually be burdened, and which areas are suitable for development.
– Technology development is enormously important for aquaculture. We are already drawing some of the same solutions. From our side, it is important to help put together the right professional environments. We have good expertise that we can contribute to, he says.
Multidisciplinary teams are the key, systematically approaching a simple problem will be the way to go, believes Birkeland.
High "Cowboy factor"
Bjørn Brunborg of Subsea Partner, is engaged in professional work diving, and brings 23 years of experience from the company to the meeting.
– We looked at the fish farming industry two or three years ago, but found that it was not very interesting to us at the time. Our impression was that there were a lot of "cowboys". The reputation they had was not good. But we have seen a total change in recent years, where HSE, quality and routines are now a high priority. Then it is again interesting for us to look at the industry and collaborate with them, says Brunborg.
He believes that there is a lot that can be done with the transfer of expertise from oil and gas to aquaculture.
– We are looking at vessel operations, HSE and technology. There is a lot that can be done if these two industries come together to find solutions. I think a crossover between the two could be very good, he says.
Financial support
– There are many support schemes that can allocate money for various developments and projects, and we at GCE Subsea have a lot of expertise in this area, please feel free to contact us, said business developer Gunnar Buvik at GCE Subsea in conclusion.
